Photo/Andrew Sullivan

By Ken Jackson

Staff Writer

Residents along Bass Road in Kissimmee may have seen smoke late Wednesday morning, and where there was smoke there was, indeed, fire.

There was just neither concern nor panic.

Osceola County was staging a controlled burn of about five acres at a portion of Shingle Creek adjacent to Give Kids the World Wednesday. That particular location is home for native gopher tortoises and reducing the brush gives the animals more room to roam, said Osceola County Public Lands Manager Bob Mindick.

The crews couldn’t have picked a better day to do such a burn, with clear skies and barely any wind, said Mindick.

“Perfect conditions. A perfect smoke column, straight up,” he said.

Osceola County Fire Rescue & EMS was on hand to carefully monitor the burn. While, just on the other side of a chain link fence from the parkland, residents in the Country Creek Estates went about their business, aware and concerned but unfazed.

Mindick said they were made aware of the operation prior to the burn.

“We hold these regular burns to protect their property, and ours,” he said.

Two more burns are planned in coming weeks, near Camp Lonesome off Canoe Creek Road and near Lake Lizzie, on the east side of the county. More could take place to knock down dry tinder that lines the county as the dry season continues.

Osceola County reached 532 on the Keetch-Bryan drought index this week, with 15 percent of the county up over 600. The county reminds residents that a burn ban has been in effect within the unincorporated areas of Osceola County since Dec. 8 for all types of outside burning, including open fire pits, campfires and yard debris.