Burn Ban Now!

Now is the time to be proactive in Escambia County by issuing a "burn-ban" temporarily, as other panhandle counties are doing, due to the dangerous conditions that are present that are conducive to wildfires....

I am publicly calling for an immediately implemented,  temporary burn ban in Escambia County.

Thankfully it looks as though we have the upper hand on the Hurst Hammock fire, and thankfully in Escambia County we lost NO structures---- but that fire had the potential to destroy houses, it moved so quickly.

In speaking with a firefighter on that blaze that spent three days and nights out there  "It is a good idea to do a ban right now--with the wind and conditions not cooperating these fires have a lot of potential to get bad fast!"

Between Walton County and Santa Rosa Counties over the last several weeks----40 homes have been lost.  Other panhandle counties are instituting burn bans.  We should do likewise immediately.

Conditions appear to be conducive to wildfires right now--with lower humidity, no precipitation, and strong winds.

So that's why I believe we need to institute an immediate "burn-ban" in Escambia County to run from now until these conditions change and we get significant rains.

I'll be emailing the attorney and the administrator this morning requesting what the mechanism is by which we can do this.

Stay tuned.