Gulf County burn ban expires
A burn ban that was issued in Gulf County on March 5 in response to dry, windy conditions that caused the rapid spread of the Bertha Swamp Road fire in the county’s northwest end expired Tuesday, March 15, after several days of rainfall significantly lowered the wildfire threat.
Officials still caution residents to follow all regular burning rules and to obtain state permits when required.
Tuesday morning, as another storm system moved into the panhandle, the Florida Forest Service reported that the Bertha Swamp Road fire was 75 percent contained.
The fire has bunred more than 33,000 acres, and officials say it will likely take several weeks for the fire to be fully extinguished.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.