Three wildfires in West Miami-Dade spread across more than 18,000 acres on Friday afternoon, forcing closures on southbound Florida's Turnpike and keeping Krome Avenue shut in both directions as crews worked to slow the flames. Two lanes on the Turnpike reopened around 8 p.m., but the main fight was still far from over.
Friday marked day six of the fire fight, and officials said one blaze, the Quarry fire, was 80% contained while the Well fire was 60% contained. The acreage total mattered because the fires had already chewed through a vast stretch of land, and the smoke was thick enough to hang over South Florida and disrupt travel well beyond the burn area.
Jason Fernandez said the fires posed a serious challenge for responders because of shifting winds and other factors. He also warned people with respiratory conditions to stay inside and told families to keep children, family members and pets indoors to limit exposure to the smoke.
The fires began after a lightning strike on Sunday night, and crews responded on Friday by setting back fires to choke out the blaze while helicopters from Florida Forest Service and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue dumped water on hotspots. That work helped on the road front, but the numbers do not yet line up neatly: the headline acreage is higher than the Friday afternoon count, which means the burn area likely grew later in the day or the total was being updated as crews got a clearer read on the scene.
What is clear is that the fires had already turned a local emergency into a transportation problem. Until the remaining roads reopen and the acreage stops climbing, West Miami-Dade is still living with a fire fight that has not settled into a clean ending yet.
