Dry conditions prompt burn ban in Seminole, Osceola counties

Ban effective immediately

After weeks of brush fires across Central Florida, Seminole and Osceola counties are under a burn ban starting Wednesday that includes all outside open fires, officials from both counties said.

The lack of rain has sent the Keetch-Byram Drought Index over 500. The ban will be lifted once the index drops below 500 for at least seven days, according to the Seminole County Office of Emergency Management.

The burn ban includes fire pits, campfires and yard debris in unincorporated Osceola County and Seminole County.

Anyone who violates the burn ban can be fined $500 or jailed for fewer than 60 days.

Burn restrictions are also in effect for Flagler and Volusia counties.

Fire crews have battled hundreds of acres of brush fires across Central Florida in the last week.

Some residents in the Seminole Woods subdivision in Geneva evacuated their homes Monday as the fire approached the area, Seminole County fire officials said.

In Brevard County, a large stretch of State Road 528 was shut down early Tuesday because of smoke from a brush fire in the St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge. The fire burned more than 600 acres.

News 6 meteorologist Madeline Evans said Central Florida is in the middle of its dry season. It will be another couple of months until the area starts to get the significant amount of rain needed to prevent flare-ups.