Charlotte County burn ban remains in place for 4th of July

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)—Charlotte County's burn ban will remain in place through the Independence Day holiday despite a recommendation to lift it.

Bryan Carr, deputy chief of public safety, recommended the burn ban be rescinded based on the KBDI index. Higher humidity and more rainfall is expected during the next few days.

"Based off of those current forecasts, the fuel conditions, readiness, and our consultation with the Division of Forestry, uh, there is a recommendation from the fire department to, uh, rescind the countywide burn ban," Carr said.

County commissioners say the west portion of the county is still dry and has gotten significantly less rain than other portions.

The community is split. Some want to err on the side of caution, leaving the burn ban in place, while others say want to celebrate the 250th 4th of July with fireworks at home is fine as long as safety is kept in mind.

Neighbors said they already have plans to set off or watch fireworks this weekend. Danielle Lebesque didn't check for a burn ban before buying fireworks, sharing that her family will be setting them off near the water using a fire pit—prioritizing safety and cleaning up the remains to prevent contamination.

"Everybody stay safe, think about prioritizing safety for, not just for you and people, but also, your environment around you," Lebesque said.

Richard VanAcker supports the burn ban being lifted. He said people need to be careful if they choose to set off fireworks.

"They're gonna shoot off fireworks no matter what. I just wanted people also to be vigilant, which I told them about having buckets and having hoses, and just being careful around the neighborhood," VanAcker said.

While VanAcker said his neighborhood has seen significant rainfall, some of the Charlotte County commissioners shared the opposite. Commissioner Ken Doherty said conditions remain too dry in parts of the county.

"For the month of June at my house in Section 20 of Deep Creek, we had about one and a half inches of rain the whole month of June, and the one inch came Tuesday, the last day of the month. It's too dry," Doherty said.

The chief of Englewood Fire Department also pushed for the ban to stay in place. Kevin Easton, chief of Englewood Fire Department, cited recent fire activity across the state.

"Florida Fire Service has responded to over 87 fires in the month of June alone. So the conditions, although they look better, West County doesn't look near as good as Central County does," Easton said.

The commissioners shared uncertainty whether the ban would be effective. Doherty noted enforcement challenges with fireworks.

"It doesn't seem to matter whether we have a burn ban or whatever. They're still gonna launch these fireworks," Doherty said.

The commissioners discussed a partial ban lift for areas that have seen more significant rainfall but decided to keep the ban fully in place for enforcement reasons. They want to see a safe holiday weekend.