One person died and three others were injured in a seven-vehicle pileup early Friday morning on Interstate 75 near mile marker 96 on Alligator Alley. Heavy smoke from a prescribed burn created dangerously low visibility that contributed to the deadly chain-reaction crashes.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the crashes occurred just after midnight on the southbound side of I-75. Investigators said a semi-truck stopped in the travel lane because of the visibility issues, triggering the collision. A 52-year-old man from Madeira Beach was killed.
The crash site is not far from Picayune Strand State Forest, where the Florida Forest Service conducted an approximately 1,800-acre prescribed burn on Thursday. In advance of the burn, the Forest Service warned drivers and nearby residents to use caution due to the potential for lingering smoke.
How weather conditions helped create dangerous smoke levels
When the Forest Service conducts prescribed burns, foresters typically coordinate with the National Weather Service to create a burn plan that includes a smoke-dispersion forecast. Although these forecasts use the best available science, conditions can change rapidly…