New Warnings About Outdoor Burning; Burn Ban Issued In One Area

May 12, 2011

As our dry weather continues, there’s a new warning about outdoor burning and even a burn ban in one area community.

On Wednesday, the city of Atmore  issued a burn ban until further notice in their city limits. There is no burn ban in effect in North Escambia, but officials issued new warnings about outdoor burning Wednesday afternoon.

Officials with the Florida Division of Forestry’s Blackwater Forestry Center are asking residents to use caution if they plan to burn yard debris and be mindful of increasingly dry conditions throughout Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

While the local area – and the rest of Florida as a whole – is experiencing an increase in drought conditions, that is not the only factor that has local fire crews on high alert.

“We are currently experiencing a moderate drought for this time of the year,” said David Smith, Operations Administrator for Blackwater. “The fire danger indices have remained in the high to very high range for over a week. Wetter areas that usually do not burn, such as swamps and creek drainages, readily burn because of the dry conditions. However, many of these areas still have enough soil moisture to cause significant problems for firefighting equipment.”

“The situation will only worsen without significant, soaking rainfall events,” he said. “With the afternoon thunderstorm season fast approaching, I expect an increase in lightning caused fires in addition to those caused by humans. The public can help the situation greatly by being extremely cautious when burning or postponing burning if possible.”

With these factors in mind, Blackwater officials are not authorizing acreage or pile burns at this time in Escambia, Santa Rosa or Okaloosa counties and asking residents to avoid burning yard debris until conditions improve.

But this is not a burn ban — burn bans are issued by individual counties on the advice of the Division of Forestry.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News