A brush fire that burned at least 250 acres in western Broward County Wednesday near Alligator Alley is mostly under control Thursday morning.
Some early hotspots died down, and wind directions kept the smoky smell far away from regional areas. With temperatures expected to rise, firefighters are remaining vigilant due to the possibility of those flames reigniting.
The fire burned into the night under the glow of a summer full moon. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue said the fire was burning on the south side of I-75 near mile marker 32.
"We saw haze from way back there so we didn't know what it was. We knew it was a big fire so were nosy and we pulled over," said Diana Haynes.
For hours the orange flames lit up the evening sky causing drivers on I-75 to pull over and take pictures.
"We're from out of town so we're just... it's something we've never seen before," said tourist Tina Wetzel.
"The little one saw the fire and said 'can we stop' so I said okay," said Pat Joyce, also a tourist.
"It's amazing, I've never seen anything like that," said Diana Haynes. "Yeah I wonder how it started."
Local
According to the Florida Division of Forestry lightning sparked the fire around 5:00 p.m. just in time for rush hour.
Pat Joyce 10:27 "Well I'm a firefighter from Minnesota and have never seen a big wildfire like this. What do you think? It's pretty wild," Joyce said.
BSO Fire Rescue was monitoring the blaze to make sure it didn't threaten any structures, while the Florida Highway Patrol kept tabs on visibility.
Motorists were being urged to use caution due to the smoky conditions caused by the fire.
"Yeah we felt the heat a little bit from over here... but oh my God it's an amazing sight, Haynes said.
