BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — If you’ve been watching news anywhere in the United States over the last several days, it’s pretty clear - or it should be - that this isn’t a good time for people to burn debris in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia.
That wasn’t too clear Tuesday in Baker County after fire crews were called out to a home where a resident was burning their trash. As fire crews in Florida and Georgia continuing battling stubborn, destructive wildfires, most of the counties in both states are under stringent burn ban restrictions.
Baker County Fire Rescue Chief Trevor Nelson took to social media Tuesday making a plea with the community to obey the burn ban after his team was called out to a residence where a person was burning trash. The blaze got out of hand.
“Baker County, please stop burning yard waste and trash, even in a burn barrel,” Nelson stated in the post. “It is not safe.”
Nelson said the person told firefighters that he couldn’t take the trash to the dump because his car broke down.
“Please, phone a friend, or let it pile up,” Nelson said. “But burning it, is the wrong plan. This fire, although small, put in danger, several mobile homes. ... Let’s keep a catastrophic fire from happening here!”
Baker County escaped a possible disaster, Nelson said, if not for a favorable wind and quick action from the fire department.
Florida Burn Ban Map
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