Fire crews say a massive brush fire in west Broward County consumed 27,000 acres as of Tuesday evening, but is now 70 percent contained.
“It grew by about 7,000 acres overnight,” said Scott Peterich, Florida Forest Service spokesman.
The fire had previously blanketed much of South Florida in smoke on Monday. The smoke wasn’t as bad Tuesday morning, but other problems arrived. The smoke swallowed up power lines and caused a large outage.
“They (particulates) cause an arching that’s something FPL will take a look at and take appropriate measures if it gets too thick,” Peterich said.
Due to weather conditions, the smoke was kept out of the eastern areas of South Florida. As of Tuesday evening, the weather and winds are expected to remain steady and they are not anticipating smoke moving into the coastal areas.
The fire, which officials believed was sparked by lightning, was running into problems as the thunderstorms in the area were pushing the fire away from some areas.
"This whole area is contained with canals and levies. So if we can keep it in that 70-thousand acre area, we can go ahead and just let it burn out," Peterich said.
Still, officials were monitoring U.S. 27 in case the wind shifts and covers the road. Forestry officials said they hope the fire will eventually burn itself out, which could take several days.
Check back with NBC 6 South Florida and NBC6.com for updates.
