Several wildfires have been burning across swaths of the Florida Everglades, prompting multi-agency containment operations and warnings for road users.
The fires started over the weekend and have since spread despite initial suppression efforts, eliciting increased efforts to contain the fires, the Florida Forest Service (FFS) said Monday.
The fires rage as vast areas of Florida experience moderate-to-exceptional drought.
“There is a large Everglades fire which is sending smoke towards the Holly Lake area (US-27 & Pines Boulevard),” the Pembroke Pines Police Department (PPPD) said Saturday afternoon. “Fire-Rescue has setup along the perimeter of the Holly Lake community to monitor the fire in the event that it approaches Pembroke Pines.”
A video shared Sunday evening by the Pembroke Pines Police Department (PPPD) shows the fire burning for miles, with plumes of smoke rising and blotting out the skies.
UPDATE: People stopping to look at the Everglades fire are causing traffic backup along US-27 and Pines Boulevard. PPPD is requesting that drivers please stay out of the area; cars attempting to stop along the roadway will be directed to move.
1/2 https://t.co/C2XtfOOAZj pic.twitter.com/iZ0KSzAVd2
— Pembroke Pines PD (@PPinesPD) May 10, 2026
People in the area face the risk of reduced visibility, according to the FFS. The wind could force a change in the condition of the fires, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue warned, adding that residents and commuters should stay away from the area and that people with respiratory conditions should shelter indoors.
“People stopping to look at the Everglades fire are causing traffic backup along US-27 and Pines Boulevard,” a statement from the PPPD accompanying the video read in part. The PPPD requested that drivers keep out of the area or avoid stopping along the roadway.
The 172 Avenue Fire in southeast Miami-Dade had affected 300 acres, while the Max Road Fire in Broward County had affected 5,600 acres, according to the FFS.
Both fires were 30% contained as of late Monday morning, the FFS said. (RELATED: Wildfire Threat Increases In US Region Due To Strong Winds, Warm Temperatures; State Of Emergency Declared)
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and other local, state, and federal agencies, including the National Guard, were also working with the FFS to contain the fires.
An earlier brush fire affecting the northeastern corner of Everglades National Park was first reported April 27 and had spread across 2,500 acres as of midday April 28, reducing visibility along Highway 41, according to the National Park Service.
Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott said early Monday that he spoke with local authorities about the brush fires and called for South Floridians to be safe and heed all road closure notices and emergency guidance.
“Our firefighters are working tirelessly, and conditions appear to be improving. Thank God for their heroism. Please join [my wife] Anne and me in praying for them and those in surrounding areas,” he said.
The Everglades encompasses 7,800 square miles of wetlands and grasslands in southern Florida, with a high level of biodiversity including over 2,000 plant and animal species — many of them considered imperiled in terms of conservation status.