Manatee County officials issue burn ban through June 10

BRADENTON, Fla. — A burn ban is now in effect for all of Manatee County due to the continued dry and hot weather, county commissioners announced Tuesday.

Officials said the ban includes items containing any “explosive compound,” sparklers, any item or product using or containing any amount of pyrotechnic composition, flares, open burning and campfires.

“We’ve been in discussion with the Fire Chief’s Association, as well as the Department of Forestry, in regard to the current drought conditions throughout the county,” said Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jodie Fiske in a statement. “It is recommended that we declare a burn ban within Manatee County.”

The following uses will be allowed:

• Outdoor cookers or grills if they are always attended by a responsible adult while the unit is in use
• Any agricultural, silvicultural or land-clearing burn that has been authorized by the Florida Forest Service and it has been determined that there will be sufficient fire suppression equipment and personnel on site
• Properly permitted public fireworks displays with adequate fire suppression equipment and personnel on site
• Flares discharged over the Gulf of Mexico

There are also burn bans in effect for Pasco and Polk counties.

Officials with the Florida Forest Service said so far, they have seen 26 active fired they are mitigating in the last week, with the largest one at 1,700 acres.

“This is higher than it has been in past years,” said Florida Forest Service official Patrick Mahoney. “In past years, it’s been wet since the hurricane came through. We’ve had several wet summers, wet falls, wet springs, so the fire activity’s been really low. But right now, we haven’t had the rain, so fire danger is up. We’re starting to go into a drought.”

For some residents, burn bans are not a big deal, but for others, like ranchers, they rely on burning to run a business.

Being a rancher is all Jim Strickland knows.

“We’ve been in the cattle business — The Stricklands — since 1860,” he said.

He’s raising more than a thousand head of cattle throughout 17,000 acres. He just acquired his eighth ranch located in Myakka called “Lost Girl Prairie.”

Because it’s new land with invasive species, Strickland wants to do a controlled burn. He said the area hasn’t burned in about 10 years.

Although there is a burn ban for Manatee County, the Florida Forest Service said Strickland could still send in a request for a prescribed burn, but for him to get approved, it all depends on the weather and resources. So, Strickland has halted the plans to burn the acres of land.

“Our cattle can’t get into this area,” Strickland said. “What we would like to do is put fire in here and knock down all these invasive species and bring this back to something that’s more conducive for our ducks, alligator, our deer and our cattle.”

Strickland said he’s fine waiting until the ban is lifted because he knows how serious wildfires can be, like the one that recently happened in Bowling Green.

“I’ve been burning woods for close to 55 years. Again, back to when it was an art, not a science. And now it’s a combination. Now it’s a combination. It’s both. I’ve seen really bad wildfires. I have seen a lot of lightning strikes. I’ve seen homes burned. I’ve seen the damage that’s done,” he said.

The burn ban will be in effect through June 10, unless extended.