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Highlands Today

County rescinds burn ban

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 22, 2009

SEBRING - The countywide burn ban, which had been in place for the past five weeks, has been rescinded.

The Highlands County commissioners, who put the restriction on outdoor fires in effect on March 17, lifted it on Tuesday on the recommendation of Bill Nichols, county emergency operations manager.

Nichols said the county's rating on the drought index has fallen substantially, from a high of 739 several weeks ago to 611, on a scale of 800.

Despite lifting the ban, Nichols said, "we still do want people to use extreme caution when they are burning."

Scores above 550 on the drought index indicate drought conditions and the potential for wildfires, he said.

Recent rainfall has sped up the spring leafing out of green plants, and that has reduced the chance of a wildfire spreading too fast for firefighters to quickly contain and extinguish it, Nichols said.

Nichols also warned that a few isolated spots in the county did not receive rain during the past week pose a greater threat of wildfires, with drought-index scores up to 721.

Even without the ban, state law requires a fire permit from the state Division of Forestry for any outdoor fire with a diameter of more than eight feet.

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