Burn Bans In Effect In Sarasota, Manatee Counties

SARASOTA-BRADENTON, FL — Burn bans are in place in Sarasota and Manatee counties because of ongoing hot and dry weather.

A burn ban was issued in Sarasota County in early May because of drought conditions.

Burn bans automatically go into effect and prohibit almost all open burning when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) meets or exceeds 500 under Sarasota County law. The burn ban will automatically lift after the drought index falls below 500 for seven consecutive days.

Meanwhile, Manatee County commissioners voted Monday to impose the emergency ban on all outdoor burning, as well as the use and discharge of fireworks and sparklers throughout the county, a news release said.

The emergency order came days after a large three-alarm brush fire shut down a portion of Interstate 75 in North Port on Saturday. Firefighters got it under control by Sunday, North Port Fire Rescue wrote in a Facebook post.

Manatee County’s burn ban includes items containing any "explosive compound," sparklers, any item or product using or containing any amount of pyrotechnic composition, flares, open burning, and campfires because of the increasingly dry conditions in the county.

The following uses will be allowed:

• Outdoor cookers or grills if they are always attended by a responsible adult while the unit is in use
• Any agricultural, silvicultural or land-clearing burn that has been authorized by the Florida Forest Service and it has been determined that there will be sufficient fire suppression equipment and personnel on site
• Properly permitted public fireworks displays with adequate fire suppression equipment and personnel on site
• Flares discharged over the Gulf of Mexico

This burn ban will be in effect until June 10, 11:59 p.m., unless councilors decide to extend it.

In Sarasota County, all outdoor burning is prohibited unless a permit has been issued. The ban applies to the unincorporated areas of the county and the city of Sarasota.

Exceptions to the ban include cooking on barbeque grills or pits that don’t exceed 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height or any other valid state- or county-authorized burn, the county said.