A stretch of Krome Avenue between SW 8th Street and SW 88th Street shut down completely Friday night as fire crews battled three separate wildfires burning along the edge of the Everglades in west Miami-Dade. The Radio Tower Fire alone had scorched roughly 700 acres and reached 50% containment by late Friday, while the nearby Trail Fire burned 25 acres and was 80% contained. A third blaze, the Caddis Fire, was still at 0% containment after charring 75 acres.
The closure stranded evening commuters in zero-visibility smoke for as long as two hours, according to WSVN 7News. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews worked the Radio Tower Fire near 5755 Southwest 177th Avenue, with Chopper 4 capturing footage of heavy plumes rising over the marshland, according to CBS Miami. The station reported the fire had grown to 188 acres per Watch Duty tracking data, with the Trail Fire burning near the 2000 block of Southwest 8th Street.
Florida Forest Service crews sent additional units to assist Miami-Dade firefighters, per the same CBS Miami report. The station also noted that Miami-Dade Fire Rescue attributed the Krome Avenue shutdown directly to low visibility caused by smoke drifting across the roadway, a hazard that has repeatedly forced closures on this stretch of State Road 997.
Aerial Drops Keep Flames Away From Homes
Crews leaned on aerial water drops pulled from a nearby lake to knock down the persistent flames, a tactic often used when dense Everglades terrain keeps ground vehicles at bay, WSVN 7News reported. Despite smoke drifting toward residential neighborhoods near Kendall Drive, officials reassured the public Friday night that neither the Radio Tower Fire nor the Trail Fire threatened homes or commercial structures…