The County Administrative Board is leaning towards SMHI's fire risk forecasts, which extend over five days.
In the fire risk forecast, humidity and winds are weighed together with how dry it is in forest and land, how long it has been like this and what it looks like to be ahead.
Fire weather index
- There we see FWI, Fire Weather Index, index follows a scale from one to five.
When we reach four, there is a great risk of forest fires.
A five means extremely great risk, says Tomas Carlén and continues:
- The assessment we make then is how large a part of the county is followed by this index.
A four in large parts of the county or up to a five for five days ahead then we have reason to introduce a fire ban.
A normal fire ban means that you can only light fires in organized barbecue areas, where it can take place safely.
Stricter fire ban
Level five is in two stages and the highest level means a stricter fire ban.
- Then you should not fire at all, not even with liquids or gaseous form.
But if the index is high for two days instead of five, can you not go out with a fire ban then?
- It can be so anyway, it is a matter of judgment.
But it's more about not introducing and withdrawing anyway, says Tomas Carlén.