Fire officials at the Apalachicola National Forest are implementing a Fire Restriction Emergency Closure Order that will ban all fires or campfires on the entire forest due to high drought index and lack of rain.
Officials say this order is effective starting April 2 to July 31, due to the unseasonably high drought index and lack of rain the forest will experience. The purpose of the Fire Restriction Emergency Closure Order is to protect the health and safety of the public and natural resources.
The order prohibits building, maintaining, attending or using a fire or campfire on any and all compartments, lands and waters on the forest.
Using the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), forest officials determined the fire danger on the Apalachicola National Forest is high with the potential for extreme fire danger as minimal precipitation is forecasted for the foreseeable future.