Drought index falls below necessary state level
The burn ban that the Sarasota County Fire Department issued on March 26 has been lifted, the Fire Department announced on June 9.
Officially, the restriction was lifted on June 6, a county webpage says.
Prior to this most recent ban, the county had been under a burn ban from Dec. 28, 2024 through March 3.
The county’s Water Atlas says that total rainfall was 0.41 inches in April, compared to the average of 2.38 inches for that month.
A burn ban prohibits unpermitted open burning in the county. As county staff has explained, “Under Sarasota County’s burn ban ordinance (Sarasota County Code Section 58-2), burn bans automatically go into effect countywide and prohibit almost all open burning when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) meets or exceeds 500.”
The June 9 announcement points out that the latest Fire Department action was prompted by the fact that the Keech Bryan Drought Index fell below 500 for seven consecutive days, “reducing the wildfire threat in Sarasota County.”
The data shown for each Florida county on June 8 — available on the website of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services — said that Sarasota County’s mean KBDI was 407.
As those state webpages explain, “The Keetch-Byram drought index (KBDI) is a continuous reference scale for estimating the dryness of the soil and duff layers. The index increases for each day without rain (the amount of increase depends on the daily high temperature) and decreases when it rains. The scale ranges from 0 (no moisture deficit) to 800. The range of the index is determined by assuming that there is 8 inches of moisture in a saturated soil that is readily available to the vegetation.”
On June 8, the minimum KBDI for Sarasota County was 269, while the maximum was 531, a chart showed.
For Manatee County the same day, the mean KBDI was 395, the chart noted. For Charlotte County, it was 440.
County staff pointed out in the June 9 release that “Sarasota County Fire Department officials will continue to monitor conditions. Residents are reminded to take precautions to protect themselves from fire danger and follow local open burning ordinance rules and regulations as outlined in Sarasota County Code Section 54-116.”
For more information and tips to protect property from wildfires, the release added, visit scgov.net/fire.