ORLANDO, Fla. — The lack of rain and moisture in Lake County has caused a burn ban to be put in place for residents in order to prevent dangerous fires from starting and spreading.

The Lake County burn ban prohibits the burning of yard debris of garbage, or any outside fires that don't include cooking.

The burn ban has been in effect since Tuesday and Lake County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Anthony Cuellar said this time of year can be extremely dangerous when it comes to wildfires.

To monitor conditions, they look at daily data from the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, or KBDI, to check how dry or moist an area is.

“The index starts from 100 and goes all the way to 750, right," Cuellar said. "That danger range that we classify in the ordinance goes into effect for all of Lake County, municipalities included, is at 500.”

The lower the KBDI, the more moisture there is in the ground — while the higher the index means the drier the ground is.

Cuellar calls 400 the ideal or Goldilocks number for the index.

As of late Thursday, Lake County had an average KBDI of 514, but the county’s index currently has a range from 404 to 581.

And even though not every area of the county has the same risk, the Lake County's regulations keep every municipality and unit on alert.

“Everyone’s alerted, everybody is on alert, but these units have to be hyper-alert because more than likely that area could have an impact faster than the south end of Lake County," Cuellar said.

The current index puts Lake County in a Phase 1 pre-plan mode which keeps all municipalities on alert and keeps a brush truck on standby. As the index rises, so do the phases, which would call for more crews and trucks to be on standby.

Lake County Fire Rescue Public Safety Director David Kilbury showed Spectrum News the prime conditions that can lead to a dangerous wildfire.

“What you’re looking at here is typical fallen forest limbs and debris from last year’s hurricane season," said Kilbury. "This area has the potential for a massive wildfire, and it’s right along a residential neighborhood.”

Because a lot of Lake County residents live so close to forest areas, Kilbury urged them to be vigilant.

He said taking the time to clean yards, roofs, and gutters of debris can not only save residents' homes, but ensure firefighters can safely do their jobs.

“You need a defensible space. You need to create an area where there is not fuel between your house and nature," Kilbury said, adding that 30 to 50 feet of "no fuel whatsoever is needed to allow the firefighters to pull hose lines and get protection in between the house and the wild land area.”

Kilbury said LCFR takes a "Three E" approach: They want to extinguish the fires, educate their residents and enforce action on those who disobey the ordinance on multiple occasions.

Kilbury said conditions are so dry right now that a simple lawnmower backfire or the heat from a car’s catalytic converter could start a fire, so he really wants homeowners to be aware of what’s around them.

He said anyone who sees smoke where it shouldn't be should call 911, because they would rather respond to a false alarm than a delayed alarm.

Kilbury said it would take weeks of rain to accumulate the moisture needed to get the KBDI index average to under 500, but once that happens, the burn ban could be lifted.