Fire Department personnel continue to urge public to take precautions in regard to fire danger
On July 12, the Sarasota County Fire Department lifted the burn ban that was issued on April 19, which prohibited unpermitted open burns in Sarasota County, the Fire Department announced.
“The ban was lifted as the Keetch-Bryan Drought Index fell below 500 for seven consecutive days, reducing the wildfire threat in Sarasota County,” a news release noted.
As the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services explains on its website, “The Keetch-Byram drought index (KBDI) is a continuous reference scale for estimating the dryness of the soil and duff layers. 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.”
Enacted on Oct. 11, 2025 before being lifted on April 14 and then reimposed again five days later, the ban automatically takes effect when the KBDI for Sarasota County reaches 500, in accord with Sarasota County Code Section 58-2, the release pointed out.
“Sarasota County Fire Department officials will continue to monitor conditions,” the release added. “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,” it said.
For more information and tips on how to protect property from wildfires, visit scgov.net/fire.