Wildfires

A 525-acre wildfire was being fought in Hendry County by the Florida Forest Service Sunday evening.

A fire burning in the CREW Wildlife Management Area in Lee County was 100 percent contained by Saturday midday and was being worked on by Florida Forest Service personnel from the Caloosahatchee Office.

Afternoon showers have been popping up throughout Southwest Florida since the year began, but more so since the summer rainy season started May 15 in places like Collier County where 4.5 inches have fallen in less than three weeks. That’s inspired the watering restrictions and outdoor burn bans to an end in some communities, while others are leaving them in place for now.

An active wildfire east of Naples and south of Interstate 75 in the Picayune Strand State Forest burned 650 acres and was 45 percent contained as of 9 p.m. Monday. Earlier voluntary evacuations have been rescinded. A second Collier County fire, north of I-75, was 90 percent contained by 8 p.m.

A wildfire of undetermined origin was burning in 98 acres alongside northbound Interstate 75 by mile marker 151 Saturday with smoke and flames visible from the freeway. The fire was reported at 85 percent contained.

The Highway 41 that burned for nearly a week in Everglades National Park is now 100 percent contained, fire officials report.

An 9,149-acre wildfire was initially reported at 2,500-acres on Monday. The fire was downgraded in severity Saturday.

The Charlotte County Commission has reinstated a countywide burn ban effective immediately due to ongoing drought conditions, elevated fire risk, and the potential for extreme fire behavior throughout Charlotte County and Southwest Florida.

There have been four wildfires in six weeks within the Collier County portion of the Everglades. The 1,700-acre Newman Fire, near the Picayune State Forest, and the 41-acre Jetport fire, about five miles from the federal detention facility Alligator Alcatraz, are both at least 75 percent contained. Another two are over.

The Newman Fire, which broke out in east Naples along the Picayune State Forest this week, was the third of four notable wildfires in the Western Everglades over the last six weeks.