A burn ban went into effect Feb. 10 for unincorporated areas of Martin County, according to a Fire Rescue news release.
It was issued until further notice in response to extremely dry conditions and lack of rainfall, according to the release. The ban prohibits burning yard trash and vegetation, as well as campfires, bonfires and burn barrels. Fireworks also aren’t allowed.
Above-ground charcoal, gas or electric grills are allowed, as long as they are used away from wooded areas, according to the release.
Burn bans went into effect for Indian River and St. Lucie counties starting Feb. 7 to reduce the risk of wildfires, according to county officials.
Conditions haven’t been this dry on the Treasure Coast since 2012, said Florida Forest Service wildfire mitigation specialist David Grubich, but this year is worse because of the frost kill.
“It goes up almost instantly with just a little spark,” Grubich said.
The Florida Forest Service uses the Keetch-Byram drought index to estimate the dryness of the soil and duff layers. The index increases each day without rain and decreases when it rains. The scale ranges from 0 to 800, with 800 being the driest.
As of Feb. 10, the drought index in both Martin and St. Lucie counties remained high at 600 while Indian River County wasn’t far behind at 550.
Anything above 400 is bad, Grubich said. He noted the service still is burning in areas that have been maintained with prescribed burns, along with properly trained supervision.
Laurie K. Blandford is a breaking news reporter with TCPalm. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida burn ban issued; what’s prohibited or allowed for fires
Reporting by Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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