Controlled Burn

Wildland firefighters in the Big Cypress National Preserve are planning to light the first of three prescribed fires on June 9 to clear out dead underbrush. The so-called Mullet fire is being lit less than a week after decent rains fell on Florida for the first time in five months, and Southwest Florida and the Everglades are still gripped by drought.

Enough rain fell during the end of May and beginning of June across the southern portion of the Florida peninsula to significantly lower the drought conditions — except for Southwest Florida including the Everglades, which remain in "extreme drought" according to the U.S. Drought Monitor