A pair of wildfires broke out late Sunday near Alligator Alley in the Florida Everglades. One of the fires grew from five to 10,000 acres Monday afternoon just north of Alligator Alley in the Big Cypress National Preserve near Ochopee as firefighters attacked the blaze on the ground and from the air.
"It’s an exceptionally dry year. We haven’t had any precipitation in months so it’s not unusual to see fires spread in a couple year’s growth like that," Riki Hoopes, a spokeswoman with the National Parks Service, said. "Given the fuels and the weather I do anticipate seeing some fire behavior tomorrow as well."
A second brush fire, just to the north of Alligator Alley was kept to under 5-acres Monday night.
A Red Flag Warning was issued for the Everglades earlier Monday as cold, dry air swept south down the Florida Peninsula over Sunday night into Monday morning.
Early last weekend, wildland firefighting agencies began sounding the alarm about the wildfire potential for Monday. Hoopes said the flames were first seen Sunday night, probably coming from the National Fire, which is the bigger of the two.
Forest firefighters have been dreading Florida’s spring wildfire season for months as a drought has blanketed much of South and western Florida for a year.
Hoopes said no homes or residents were in danger Monday night, but some of the back roads within the Big Cypress were closed so firefighters on the ground could work.
Due to the location of the fire, the active fire behavior and weather conditions, fire managers implemented an area closure for all areas south of I-75, east of SR 29, north of HWY 41, and west of TRU 2, Concho Billie Trail, and Skillet North (see accompanying map).
"Even if we don’t anticipate any major safety concerns we want to ensure that anyone near the fire drive cautiously that they stay out of restricted areas, and they just use as much common sense and caution when in the area.”
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