Miami-Dade brush fires force major closures

[00:00:00]Off the top at [music] 6, a new threat in the brushfire battle. Three blazes burning relentlessly for days and tonight the flames have spread dangerously close to the turnpike. We have live team coverage on this ongoing firefight. Local 10's Janine Stanwood is going to lead us off tonight from the front lines in Southwest Miami-Dade, Janine.

[00:00:18]>> It is all hands on deck right now to get these fires contained. We have helicopters, thanks to the feds, an airplane from the Florida Forest Service. I'll step out of the way and you can see that Chrome Avenue, a big chunk of it is closed down completely.

[00:00:32]You can see right there, you can see that's actually one of the helicopters uh that is doing some of those water drops to uh bring water to these fires to get it under control. Sky 10 also over the scene and you can see the thick plumes of smoke. A lot of them getting dangerously close to highways as the firefight continues.

[00:00:56]>> The roar of rotors as a pair of choppers drops loads of water to douse the flames.

[00:01:04]For nearly a week in sweltering temperatures and thick smoke, firefighters have been battling two major brushfires west of the turnpike in Miami-Dade and a third inside Everglades National Park.

[00:01:20]By Friday afternoon, the biggest of the fires, dubbed the Quarry Fire, shifted south, closer to US 41.

[00:01:27]>> Okay, copy. Then you can just stay right on southbound.

[00:01:30]>> This is a first responder's vantage point inside the firefight on a smoky and closed down Chrome Avenue.

[00:01:38]To the north, we saw crews fixing charred power poles, some still smoldering.

[00:01:44]By Friday afternoon, as smoke and flames come dangerously close to major highways, fire crews continue to work in the sky and on the ground with controlled burns. No telling how long this firefight will last.

[00:01:58]And in fact, what you're looking at right now, this is smoke from the Cop Dick Fire. That's actually the third fire that was burning in Everglades National Park. It was the smallest of the fires, but it has grown in size. The biggest fire, the Quarry Fire, at last check, 17,000 acres, 80% contained, but you can see it is still very smoky out here. The dry conditions, the wind, and this prolonged drought that we've had certainly not helping things at all. No doubt, this is also causing a traffic mess. My colleague Samir Nesty right now in Doral with the latest on that.

[00:02:34]>> Yeah, and Janine, right now we are just off of Northwest 74th Street, and you can see just beyond in the distance that smoky haze. That is where some of this brush fire had approached closer towards the Florida Turnpike. Arguably, this is the closest these brush fires have been, or at least to residential areas. And of course, motorists, we know how yesterday we reported that a mobile home park was evacuated, but this one is certainly far closer to the tree line, and of course, making its way closer to the Turnpike.

[00:03:04]>> Soaring flames encroaching on the southbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike near Northwest 74th Street near Doral.

[00:03:11]Southbound lanes shut down from Okeechobee Road to Northwest 41st Street as northbound lanes slowly inch by the inferno. Sky 10 hovering above as thick dark smoke rises above. It's a combination of two brush fires that sparked earlier this week, ever since incinerating nearly 20,000 acres. The ever-growing blaze has shuttered several roads in addition to the Turnpike.

[00:03:36]Chrome Avenue from Okeechobee Road to Southwest 8th Street, along with a major artery through the Everglades, Southwest 8th Street from Chrome to State Road 29 in Collier County. Not ideal on a Friday afternoon. Traffic along the 836 bumper-to-bumper. From 95, a towering funnel of smoke covering a portion of West Miami-Dade.

[00:04:02]>> All right, and now you are currently looking at a live look from Sky 10 hovering above the brush fire here in West Miami-Dade. Of course, you can see still that billowing smoke, of course, near the Florida Turnpike again.

[00:04:15]Arguably the closest it's been at least to residential and motorists here in the area and awfully close to the roadway. Back out here live, we had a chance to speak to some travelers trying to make their way south on the Florida Turnpike. Our colleagues tell us that those drivers have been stranded for quite some time, stuck in traffic. As you can imagine, this will certainly be an issue as we make our way into the rest of the evening. No clear timeline on when the southbound lanes will reopen. That's the very latest. We're live in West Miami-Dade. I'm Samer Naficy, Local 10 News.