State drought index triggers action
Just five days after the Sarasota County Fire Department lifted the countywide burn ban that had been effect since Oct. 11, 2025, the Fire Department issued an advisory late in the afternoon of Sunday, April 19, that reimposed the ban.
As a county news release explained, “Under Sarasota County’s burn ban ordinance (Sarasota County Code Section 58-2), burn bans automatically go into effect countywide and prohibit almost all open burning when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) meets or exceeds 500.
On Sunday, the Keetch-Byram figure for Sarasota County was 503, state leaders reported…