The Florida Everglades are burning out of control.
What started as two small brush fires has turned into the state’s largest wildfire of 2025.
And this monster blaze exploded to nightmare proportions and left South Florida choking on toxic smoke.
Lightning strikes trigger explosive wildfire growth
Mother Nature delivered a one-two punch to South Florida this week that nobody saw coming.
Two separate lightning strikes during severe thunderstorms on Monday, August 18th sparked what would become a catastrophic wildfire in the heart of the Everglades.
The Mile Marker 39 Fire started Monday evening, while the Sawgrass Fire ignited Tuesday afternoon, but everything changed when they merged Wednesday morning into a single monster.
By Wednesday afternoon, the Mile Marker 39 Fire had exploded from 1,600 acres on Tuesday to a staggering 19,200 acres – and that was just the beginning.
That wasn’t the end of the nightmare.
By Thursday afternoon, the beast had devoured over 42,000 acres of pristine Everglades wetlands – making it nearly twice the size of Disney World.
Florida Forest Service officials are throwing everything they have at this thing, including helicopters making water drops and specialized airboat crews surveying areas that ground crews can’t reach.
But here’s the reality check – as of Thursday afternoon, they’ve only managed to contain 10% of this fire.
The sawgrass that dominates the Everglades burns like kindling, and with drought conditions across the region, this fire has plenty of fuel to keep growing.
Toxic smoke blanket chokes South Florida communities
The real nightmare for millions of South Floridians isn’t the fire itself – it’s the massive smoke plume that’s turned their morning commute into a health hazard.
Thick, acrid smoke has been pushed by northwesterly winds straight into populated areas across Broward County.
Communities like Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach woke up Wednesday morning to what looked like a scene from a disaster movie.
“Look at this smoke, thick blanket of smoke choking a lot of folks this morning,” reported helicopter pilot Steven J. Gray as he surveyed the apocalyptic conditions from above.¹
The smoke didn’t stop at Broward’s borders.
Parts of Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties also got hit with the toxic haze, reducing visibility on major highways including Interstate 75.
Drivers along Alligator Alley could see bright orange flames in the distance through the smoky gloom Wednesday night.
For residents who thought they were dealing with typical morning fog, reality hit fast.
“We both got nervous. We smelled something, like, definitely burning, and we thought maybe there was actually a fire in the hotel,” one woman told reporters after checking with hotel staff about the mysterious burning smell.²
Areas as far away as Miami Gardens near Hard Rock Stadium, downtown Miami, and Sunny Isles Beach experienced reduced visibility from the massive smoke cloud.
Air quality warnings force residents indoors
Broward County’s Natural Resource Division didn’t mince words about the health risks.
They issued air quality forecasts ranging from “moderate” to “unhealthy” as the smoke settled over populated areas.
The National Weather Service office in Miami put out urgent warnings for anyone with respiratory conditions.
“Use caution outdoors, especially if you are sensitive to particle pollution,” officials warned, noting that visibility could drop dramatically in the densest smoke areas.³
Miami Fire Rescue Lieutenant Pete Sanchez delivered the reality check that parents needed to hear.
“We are asking anyone with respiratory issues, asthma, [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] or children, even pregnant females, that they remain indoors if they can if there is smoke or haze where they live because this can cause a respiratory issue for them,” Sanchez said.⁴
An overnight air quality alert went into effect for all of Broward County Wednesday at 10 p.m., staying active until 9 a.m. Thursday.
Cars throughout the region were covered in ash, and residents miles from the fire reported the unmistakable smell of burning vegetation.
Government response hampered by challenging conditions
Florida Forest Service crews are working around the clock, but they’re fighting an uphill battle against geography and weather.
The fire is burning in the 3A North Conservation Area of the Everglades, bordered by the Broward-Palm Beach county line to the north, Interstate 75 to the south, and U.S. 27 to the east.
This isn’t your typical suburban brush fire – it’s burning in a subtropical wetland ecosystem spanning more than 1.5 million acres of difficult terrain.
Michelle Danielson, a senior forester with the Florida Forest Service, explained the challenge crews are facing.
“It has a lot of area to spread, and it is sawgrass, so those are finer fuels, and they’re going to catch easier,” Danielson said.⁵
Fire suppression efforts have been severely hampered by the wetland conditions.
Ground crews can’t access large portions of the burning area, forcing officials to rely heavily on airboat surveys and helicopter water drops.
Forest Service supervisor Thom Coletti was driving on U.S. 27 Monday evening when he witnessed the lightning strikes that started the Mile Marker 39 Fire.
According to sources, the Sawgrass Fire started Tuesday afternoon after additional severe weather moved through the area.
The two fires merged Wednesday morning, creating the massive blaze that now threatens the region.
His assessment? The fire will likely have to burn itself out over the next few days when it finally runs out of fuel.
That’s not exactly the reassuring government response that South Florida residents were hoping to hear.
What this means for Florida’s future
Look, Florida deals with wildfires every year, but this one is different.
The explosive growth – from 1,600 to 42,000 acres in just over 48 hours – shows how quickly a manageable situation can turn into a regional crisis.
And here’s what should worry everyone: the extreme drought conditions that fueled this fire aren’t going away anytime soon.
The Everglades are supposed to be a wet, marshy environment that naturally resists large fires.
When you’ve got sawgrass burning like gasoline in what’s supposed to be a wetland, that tells you something about how dry conditions have become across South Florida.
State officials are betting that upcoming rain and thunderstorms will help slow the fire’s spread and clear the smoke.
But meteorologists explained the challenge with light wind conditions.
“The wind was very light, so the smoke layer was just stagnant,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Caracozza explained about Wednesday night’s conditions. “It doesn’t have a chance to mix or move or anything like that, so that could affect the air quality.”⁶
The reality is that Florida’s population has exploded over the past decade, putting millions more people in the path of natural disasters like this.
When a fire in the remote Everglades can shut down major highways and force entire counties indoors, that’s a wake-up call about how vulnerable our growing communities really are.
No structures are currently threatened by the flames, and no injuries have been reported.
But this fire proves that even in the middle of a subtropical wetland, the right conditions can create a monster that affects millions of people across three counties.
Officials say it could take days or even weeks to get this thing fully contained.
For now, South Florida residents are stuck breathing smoky air and hoping the wind shifts in their favor.
¹ Steven J. Gray, 7Skyforce, “Brush fire burning in West Broward near Alligator Alley blankets South Florida in smoke,” WSVN, August 20, 2025.
² Anonymous resident, “Brush fire burning in West Broward near Alligator Alley blankets South Florida in smoke,” WSVN, August 20, 2025.
³ National Weather Service Miami, Weather Advisory, August 21, 2025.
⁴ Pete Sanchez, Miami Fire Rescue Lt., “Brush fire burning in West Broward near Alligator Alley blankets South Florida in smoke,” WSVN, August 20, 2025.
⁵ Michelle Danielson, Senior Forester, Florida Forest Service, “Brush fire burning in West Broward near Alligator Alley blankets South Florida in smoke,” WSVN, August 20, 2025.
⁶ Chuck Caracozza, National Weather Service Miami, “Everglades wildfire is Florida’s largest in 2025,” Miami Herald, August 21, 2025.
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Author: rgcory
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