Due to weather conditions and other factors the burning is being delayed.

Below is a quote from http://www.keysnet.com

A planned Thursday fire on Big Pine Key to clear foliage has been called off due to weather conditions, says the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“Weather conditions are unlikely to meet the required burn parameters for winds and rainfall,” the National Key Deer Refuge said.

“In addition to weather factors, availability of specialized fire equipment and firefighters is a core consideration in the prescribed-burn planning process,” the agency said. “As fire activity in western states increases, availability of these resources may limit the number of possible burn days in the coming month.”

Prescribed fire is the burning of vegetation based on a prescription that takes into consideration fuel — brush — type, fuel moisture, relative humidity, air temperature, wind speed, wind direction and other atmospheric conditions….”

The National Key Deer Refuge planned to ignite the controlled burn on a narrow, boomerang-shaped tract covering 10 acres along the west side of Key Deer Boulevard.

It would have been the first intentional burn on Big Pine Key since the Blue Hole Fire scorched 100 acres — 10 times the planned amount — last September. It resulted in resident evacuations.