BROOKSVILLE – The Hernando County Commission on Tuesday, May 26, voted 5-0 to approve lifting the county’s burn ban since the area has gotten rainfall and the drought index has dropped, though the area still is in drought conditions.
Hernando County Fire Rescue said in a press release that the county has seen a reduced number of brush fire responses in recent weeks as well as adequate precipitation accumulations, resulting in a drop in the Keetch-Byram Drought Index to an average of 379.
“We got rain over the weekend,” Public Safety Director and Fire Chief Paul Hasenmeier said. “Talked to Forestry so the pleasure of the board, whether you want to keep the burn ban or not. We’re comfortable rescinding.”
“I will make the motion, happily, to rescind that,” said County Commissioner John Allocco. “I appreciate all of the hard work your guys and ladies have been doing.”
Other commissioners expressed their appreciation.
As a result, the county-wide burn ban has been lifted for all unincorporated areas of Hernando County. Citizens are free to resume burning within the setbacks and regulations set forth by the Florida Forest Service.
County Commissioner Brian Hawkins cautioned that we’re still in a drought, even though the burn ban has been lifted.
“We need a lot of rain to recover from the drought,” he said.