Citrus Fire Chief Larry Morabito on Wednesday urged residents to abide by the current burn ban.

It is still in effect and will remain so until the county commission rescinds the ban.

In the 27 days between May 11, when the burn ban went into effect, and Tuesday, June 7, there were 95 unauthorized burns reported and 28 brush fires.

Morabito said Citrus County Fire Rescue responded to at least nine brush fires on Monday alone, as well as numerous illegal burns, reports of smoke in the area and several other emergency response incidents from 4:30 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m. Monday.

That stretched fire fighters pretty thin, he said, and at one point in the late afternoon, an all call was sounded to alert all stations and personnel to report to their station for standby to respond. Fortunately, Morabito said, things subsided, and some rain hit the county in the late afternoon.
Even so, Morabito said, that should not be taken as a sign the danger of wildfires has changed.

While one area might get a heavier rain, others get little on none, and if it is not long term, drenching rain, for example, for most of a day, then light rain can even serve to make dead vegetative material further dry as it dries in a hot sun. “If you’ve ever had dishwater hands, you know how that works,” he said.

The drought index was extremely high on Monday and wildfires are being fought around the state. In fact, he said, some of the smoke experienced in northwest Citrus Monday was from a 5,000 acre wildfire in the Goethe Forest in south Levy County.

So, he said, the bottom line is: “Don’t burn. Period.” Not only can residents be fined for illegal burning, he warned, but they can be held responsible for damage, injury and deaths caused by wildfires.
This is normally the time of year when the summer seasonal rains begin to be a common occurrence, and when conditions improve, Morabito said, he will recommend the commission rescind the ban.