Forest Service Warns Of Wildfire Danger From Outdoor Burning (Including Grills, Campfires)

May 31, 2021

Officials with the Florida Forest Service’s Blackwater Forestry Center are issuing words of warning due to the risk of wildfire.

“We all know it’s dry and folks just need to be careful,” said David Smith, operations administrator for Blackwater which handles wildfire response in Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

Florida has a 12-month risk of wildfires but March-early June typical see the peak of activity. Firefighters from Blackwater have responded to 36 wildfires since March and there 67 active wildfires throughout the state totaling more than 5,000 acres.

“It’s not out of the ordinary for this time of year,” Smith said. “We’ve had several large fires over the years impact our area on or around Memorial Day and it’s important that people are cautious with what they’re doing in regard to fire until we some significant rain.”

Residents are asked to refrain from any outdoor burning and to be extremely cautious with charcoal grills and campfires.

Those who chose to burn yard debris may do so in piles less than 8 feet in diameter as long as they meet the setbacks and there are no city or county ordinances against it. In addition to meeting the required setbacks, it is recommended that those who chose to burn have a charged water hose and shovel or rake on hand, never burn on windy days and never leave a fire unattended.

Comments

5 Responses to “Forest Service Warns Of Wildfire Danger From Outdoor Burning (Including Grills, Campfires)”

  1. crack on November 28th, 2023 4:19 pm

    No matter іf slme one searches for his necessaгy thing, thereforе
    he/she wants to be ɑvailable thhat in detail, therefore that thing is maintained over here.

    Reviеw my homepage – crack

  2. CK on May 31st, 2021 9:43 pm

    Hopefully we’ll get some rain later this week.

  3. phillip on May 31st, 2021 3:33 pm

    the article says nothing about burning barrels big brother

  4. Henry Coe on May 31st, 2021 2:21 pm

    re:Big brother, The article said nothing about burn barrels and these rules and regulations have been in place for a long time. The regulations are there to protect us all from the weekend warriors with a six pack and a lighter who knows nothing about keeping burning yard debris contained.
    Regulations are not a bad thing. Imaging how traffic on our streets would be if traffic wasn’t regulated.

  5. Big brother on May 31st, 2021 9:01 am

    Always trying to put rules and regulations I’ve burned in a barrel my whole life and now it’s not good enough

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News