Recreational Burn Ban Lifted In Sarasota County Friday

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — After more than two weeks, Sarasota County Fire Chief Michael Regnier has lifted the county’s recreational burn ban effective Friday, according to a news release from the county.

The burn ban was issued May 27 because of dry weather conditions in the county and an increased chance of wildfires. Seasonal rain patterns have begun, and officials are seeing a reduction in the wildfire threat throughout the county.

“As most people know, we implemented a recreational burn ban a few weeks ago when it was really dry conditions out,” Regnier said. “I’m not saying the drought is over - we still have drought conditions - but we are starting to see our seasonal rain patterns show up.”

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The burn ban prohibited campfires, cooking fires and other types of recreational fires. There were some wildfires in the county during the burn ban period, he said.

With the burn ban lifted, “you can have open fire burning with clean materials in a campfire setting that is protected,” Regnier added. “You can have cooking fires that are small in nature, again, protected, those types of things.”

He said people should “still be cognizant” when they do open recreational burning.