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Countywide Ban On Burning Considered

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: February 21, 2009

In the wake of a brush fire that threatened homes in southwest Pasco County, county commissioners on Tuesday will consider an emergency action to ban all burning countywide.

The burn ban will make it illegal to burn brush, clear land by fire, light a campfire or set off fireworks without written permission from the state Division of Forestry.

"We're very concerned about the fire season this year," Mike Ciccarello, the county's assistant fire chief, said Friday.

The burn ban proposal was in the works before Wednesday's brush fires in the Beacon Square section of Holiday and on Cannon Ranch in San Antonio, Ciccarello said.

The ban doesn't affect outdoor grilling or the use of fire in industrial settings.

The proposal was prompted by drought levels much higher than normal for this time of year, he said.

The Division of Forestry uses an 800-point scale to measure the amount of moisture in soils and flammable material on the ground. The higher the number, the drier the conditions.

At this time last year, the state average was about 300 on the drought index, Ciccarello said.

The state is currently averaging more than 500 on the index. Pasco is at 564. The only parts of the state reporting low levels of drought are the Panhandle and northeast Florida, according to Division of Forestry maps.

Thursday's brief showers did little to lower the drought risk, though it did help firefighters get a handle on the Holiday blaze, Ciccarello said.

If instituted Tuesday, Pasco's burn ban will bring it in line with Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties. A handful of other counties in the center of the state also have passed burn bans.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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