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Florida records nearly 100 active wildfires across the state this Wednesday, with a particular point of concern west of Miami: the so-called Highway 41 Fire has burned over 6,500 acres with 0% containment, according to meteorologist Matt Devitt.
The fire started on Monday night at the northeast corner of Everglades National Park, south of U.S. Route 41 (Tamiami Trail) and east of Shark Valley, in Miami-Dade County.
The fire is advancing south and west, burning sawgrass in extreme drought conditions, and the United States Forest Service warned that the fire has "increased significantly" due to the dry weather.
Everglades National Park has closed the area between the L-67 canal to the west and the L-31 canal to the east, from Route 41 southward to several kilometers north of Mahogany Hammock, including parking lots, facilities, and waterways.
The tourist businesses Coopertown Airboats, Everglades Safari Park, and Gator Park also closed their doors due to the fire, affecting visitors who were arriving from Miami to explore the wetlands by boat.
A group of four tourists from Turin, Italy, arrived at the Everglades Safari Park at kilometer 27 and found a handwritten sign announcing the closure.
"We saw it from the road, so we knew it was serious," said Andreas Scandurra.
The Tamiami Trail (US-41), the main access road to the Everglades from Miami, had not been closed to traffic this Wednesday, although authorities are monitoring the situation for possible smoke-related closures.
The National Weather Service warns about possible smoke conditions in the western part of Miami-Dade County during the nights, although at this time they are not sufficient to trigger a safety alert.
The fire in the Everglades is not an isolated incident. Southern Florida is facing the worst drought in decades, with more than 70% of the state experiencing "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Precipitation has been below 50% of the average since September 2025, exacerbated by the lack of tropical storms in 2025 and the La Niña phenomenon during the winter.
In previous weeks, a fire in the Everglades of Broward County advanced toward US-27 burning approximately 2,000 acres, while the Newman Drive Fire in Collier County consumed over 1,500 acres in mid-April.
On April 17, six simultaneous wildfires devastated 760 acres in various parts of the state, highlighting the magnitude of the crisis.
As of April 28, 45 of the 67 counties in Florida had active burn bans, according to the Florida Forest Service, which recorded 103 active fires burning 15,587 acres on that day alone.
Since the beginning of the year, Florida has registered more than 1,916 wildfires, with approximately 125,000 acres burned, a figure that reflects the state's worst fire season in decades.
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