City of Winter Haven Grants City Manager Authority to Opt in Or Out of County Burn Bans
by James Coulter
The City of Winter Haven will be able to opt in or out of burn bans declared by the county now that the city commission has granted the city manager that authority.
At their meeting on Wednesday evening, city commissioners voted unanimously to approve the second reading of an ordinance that authorizes the city manager to opt in and out of burn bans declared by the county.
Michael T. Waters, Winter Haven Fire Operations Chief, explained within the city ordinance memo that “the Polk County Fire Chief or their designee has the authority to declare a Fire Department Burn Ban when there is an increased risk of fire conditions exist due to drought conditions.”
These drought conditions and their potential fire risk are determined by the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a scale “based on the capacity of soil required to hold 8 inches of moisture”, which ranges from the lowest risk of 1 to the highest risk of 800.
Recently, Polk County Fire and Rescue passed a countywide burn ban effective Tues., May 28, 2024. This ban will remain in effect until the KBDI drops below 500 for consecutive days “or until further notice,” as mentioned in a press release.
Individual municipalities like Winter Haven are eligible to be included in these county burn ban issuances, and they also have the opportunity to opt in or out of these bans provided they have authorized either the city manager or fire chief to do so, Chief Waters wrote.
“Winter Haven has not had or has not taken such action in the past, [and] it is our recommendation that you as a commission approve this ordinance,” City Manager T. Michael Stavres explained.
“When the county is in process of issuing a burn ban, they will reach out to myself or the designee to determine if we are so inclined to opt into that ordinance or opt out,” he further elucidated. “If we stay out of their ordinance, it does not preclude us from issuing our own. However, if we choose to participate in their ordinance and burn ban notice, it will allow us to do more expeditiously. In the case of emergencies, that could be significant.”
Concerning the recent countywide burn ban issued earlier this week, City Manager Stavres explained that while Winter Haven was included in that ban, he considers it an “errant inclusion” as the city has “no authority to opt in.” However, this ordinance will allow him the authority to notify the county of the city’s intent to opt in.
Currently, the county’s KBDI is at 507, which is above the threshold for the issuance of a burn ban at 450, Starves said: “So we need to do some rain dances and hope and pray for a lot of rain to get that down. Not just because of a burn ban but because of the dangers we have lurking.”
