MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Using a bright orange Bambi Bucket, a Florida Forest Service team worked to put out a brush fire Friday night that had grown over the past few days.
The team planned on working into Saturday morning near Southwest 344 Street and 117 Avenue, in deep southern Miami-Dade County.
Kevin MacEwen, a Florida Forest Service supervisor, said the flames had spread through 700 acres, but the hard-working team had contained about 60% of it.
“We are not sure what started it; I’m sure it was human-caused,” MacEwen said. “There hasn’t been any lightning.”
MacEwen said, that although the overly dry season didn’t help their mission, the brush fire was not a threat to any structure on Friday in Homestead.
“It’s in a good place right now. We hope to have this wrapped up in a couple of days,” MacEwen said.
Local 10 News Meteorologist Brandon Orr said there is a moderate to severe drought across much of South Florida. That could lead to more brush fires.
“Looking at the long-range forecast and long-range models, we really don’t see a lot of rain heading our way,” Orr said from the Local 10 News Weather Authority headquarters.
MacEwen said the Florida Forest Service expected to be working diligently in March, April, and May and he asked the public to be careful.
“Just use common sense, and don’t use anything that could catch the woods on fire because it becomes a huge operation,” MacEwen said.