Agency: Wildfire Conditions Worsen

LAKE WALES | Polk County has been spared of major wildfire problems so far, but that could change in the time it takes to ignite a match.

Gary Zipprer, who heads the Lakeland office of the Florida Division of Forestry, is no longer urging residents to use caution when burning outdoors.

These days he's urging them to postpone burning anything outdoors.

"It's going to be a rough week," Zipprer said.

Zipprer said his agency worked seven wildfires in Polk County on Monday afternoon and three more had been reported by 2 p.m. Tuesday.

None of the fires was significant, but any fire has the potential to spread quickly as a result of dry, breezy conditions.

The National Weather Service again issued a Red Flag Warning for Tuesday to indicate the threat of wildfires, and is expected to do the same this afternoon.

A dry air mass has covered much of the state, leaving humidity levels low.

"Low humidity and heat are doing a number on our vegetation," Zipprer said. "Fires ignite easily and spread quickly. What people think they can handle with a single garden hose they cannot."

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which the Division of Forestry uses to measure fire danger, has been climbing daily and now stands at 465 in Polk County. The highest mark in Polk was 691 in the spring of 2001.

The index ranges from a soggy zero to a bone-dry 800, with firefighters expected problems any time it is above 400.

Officials had expected problems with fires earlier this year, as the index started 2008 at 579.

Three months of above-average rain eliminated the problem, with the index dropping below 100 after heavy rains the first week of April.

But Polk County has recorded only one-tenth of an inch since April 7.

Bay News 9 meteorologist Mike Clay said conditions are not expected to improve any time soon.

Clay said there is a 20 percent chance of rain early Saturday and about a 20 percent chance Tuesday, but nothing else for at least the next week.

Florida's summer rain machine is driven by heat and humidity. Clay said it will require more of both to jump start that engine.

That can't happen as long as fronts from the north are able to push into Florida, bringing the drier type air that Florida has seen this week.

The season usually starts about the first of June, but has been known to wait until almost the end of that month, Clay said.

[ Bill Bair can be reached at bill.bair@theledger.com or 863-676-7118. ]