Much of Sarasota County lies in a wildland-urban interface with real wildfire risk. The county issues countywide burn bans during dry conditions, automatically enacted when the drought index (KBDI) reaches 500 and lifted after it stays below 500 for seven days.
Sarasota County's inland and interface areas face seasonal wildfire risk, especially in the spring dry season. The county, working with the Florida Forest Service, imposes a countywide burn ban when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) reaches 500; the ban is lifted only after the KBDI falls below 500 for seven consecutive days. During a burn ban, residents may not have any open fires of any type, including campfires, bonfires, and yard or trash burning. The county does not assign parcel-level wildfire-hazard 'zones' with mandatory building requirements the way Western states do; instead it relies on the Firewise USA program and voluntary defensible-space guidance to reduce risk in interface neighborhoods.
Open burning during a countywide burn ban is a violation subject to fire-marshal and code-enforcement action; officials may order fires extinguished, and noncompliance is a misdemeanor under general law.
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