Florida Everglades wildfire spreads and threatens residents with severe smoke
Officials warn residents in southern Florida to avoid roads and stay indoors after massive fire burns through conservation land
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A wildfire that burned more than 20,000 acres of the Florida
Everglades has spread, forestry officials said, threatening to cover
millions of residents in the south of the state with a thick smoky
blanket for another day.
The blaze, which began on Sunday probably with a lightning strike on parched vegetation, was burning in a wilderness area near the eastern border of the Everglades National Park and posed no threat to homes or buildings, according toScott Peterich, wildfire mitigation specialist for the Florida Forest Service.
But its swift expansion from a 2,500-acre fire on Monday morning to one of the largest wildfires seen in the Everglades in recent years left a dense smokescreen hanging over a 70-mile residential stretch from West Palm Beach to Miami, leading to highway closures and warnings from health officials to stay indoors with theair conditioning on.
Peterich said a forest service pilot was flying over the fire on Tuesday morning to assess how much it had expanded overnight, but because it was burning in a 70,000-acre section of the Everglades containing nothing but dry brush, “it’s going to go up today.”
“We’ve got a good size of fire going on, it’s ripping pretty good,” he told the Guardian. “I’m seeing a huge plume of smoke. There’s a lot of burnable fuel out there and our objective is to keep it contained as it burns.”
As of Tuesday morning, he added, the fire was only 5% contained. Fire crews were unable toreach
the blaze in remote areas north of the cross-state I-75 and west of
Highway 27, but were watching as it burned closer to power lines, and
ready to take action if necessary.
“As it burns closer to a dyke or the road system we’re able to put some water on it,” he said. “The biggest concern is the smoke. We’ve had some rain on it, and that’s helped, but the fire covers a big area and some of it has had no rain at all.
“We also had a tremendous number of lightning strikes, hundreds of strikes, in the area yesterday which could have got other fires started.”
Health officials in Broward County urged residents, particularly those with respiratory problems, to stay indoors on Monday as the smoky haze settled over urban areas between the Everglades and the Atlantic coast.
The smoke also delayed severalcruise ships returning to port in Fort Lauderdale .
Forecasters said weather conditions on Tuesday could be more favourable, with offshore thunderstormsmoving from the east by the afternoon, keeping the smoke mostly inland and helping to douse the fire.
Sergeant Mark Wysocky, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said sections of Highway 27 close to the fire were open on Tuesday after a 24-hour closure, but could close again if the wind sent the smoke back towards the east.
The Everglades is home to numerous species of wildlife including alligators, endangered birds and reptiles, and most will simply move out of the way of the fire, Peterich said.
“The wildlife has evolved and learned to live with fire,” he said. “Wildfires are actually healthy for the environment, they regenerate the vegetation. Our concern is the smoke on the highways and the danger to drivers.”
The blaze, which began on Sunday probably with a lightning strike on parched vegetation, was burning in a wilderness area near the eastern border of the Everglades National Park and posed no threat to homes or buildings, according to
But its swift expansion from a 2,500-acre fire on Monday morning to one of the largest wildfires seen in the Everglades in recent years left a dense smokescreen hanging over a 70-mile residential stretch from West Palm Beach to Miami, leading to highway closures and warnings from health officials to stay indoors with the
Peterich said a forest service pilot was flying over the fire on Tuesday morning to assess how much it had expanded overnight, but because it was burning in a 70,000-acre section of the Everglades containing nothing but dry brush, “it’s going to go up today.”
“We’ve got a good size of fire going on, it’s ripping pretty good,” he told the Guardian. “I’m seeing a huge plume of smoke. There’s a lot of burnable fuel out there and our objective is to keep it contained as it burns.”
As of Tuesday morning, he added, the fire was only 5% contained. Fire crews were unable to
“As it burns closer to a dyke or the road system we’re able to put some water on it,” he said. “The biggest concern is the smoke. We’ve had some rain on it, and that’s helped, but the fire covers a big area and some of it has had no rain at all.
“We also had a tremendous number of lightning strikes, hundreds of strikes, in the area yesterday which could have got other fires started.”
Health officials in Broward County urged residents, particularly those with respiratory problems, to stay indoors on Monday as the smoky haze settled over urban areas between the Everglades and the Atlantic coast.
The smoke also delayed several
Forecasters said weather conditions on Tuesday could be more favourable, with offshore thunderstorms
Sergeant Mark Wysocky, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said sections of Highway 27 close to the fire were open on Tuesday after a 24-hour closure, but could close again if the wind sent the smoke back towards the east.
The Everglades is home to numerous species of wildlife including alligators, endangered birds and reptiles, and most will simply move out of the way of the fire, Peterich said.
“The wildlife has evolved and learned to live with fire,” he said. “Wildfires are actually healthy for the environment, they regenerate the vegetation. Our concern is the smoke on the highways and the danger to drivers.”
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