Summer Rains Cut Fire Risk, Official Says

Remember the Keetch Byram Drought Index, which the Division of Forestry uses to gauge the danger of wildfires?

You can forget it for now. On a scale ranging from a soggy zero to a bone-dry 800, Polk County's average is now 53.

That average was approaching the 600 mark before summer rains began in June. The fire danger starts rising when the index reaches 400.

Statewide the average is 73.

Gary Zipprer, who heads the Lakeland-based Division of Forestry office, said wildfires simply aren't a problem these days.

"For the first time in two years we're seeing water in some ponds in East Polk," he said. "We're in pretty good shape. The state's pretty much filled up."

Any time an area goes a few days without rain, Zipprer said, the Division of Forestry encourages property owners to do some controlled burns to get rid of a buildup of dead vegetation.