Three wildfires that burned over 35K acres are no longer burning

After nearly five days of spreading without containment, the three wildfires that erupted after lightning strikes Wednesday were no longer burning, Florida Forest Service officials said Monday.

The 2 Alpha, 2 Bravo and L39 fires west of Sunrise and west of Boca Raton burned a combined total of 35,600 acres between Wednesday and Monday afternoon, said David Rosenbaum, public information officer and mitigation specialist for the Everglades District of the Florida Forest Service.

Rain over the weekend largely put the blaze out, Rosenbaum said. South Florida remains in its drier part of the year, still “a high part of our fire season” until the rainy summer season starts in mid-May into early June.

South Florida residents can continue to expect similar wildfires during the “transition time between where we are now, when it’s very dry … until you get more frequent rains,” Rosenbaum said.

When afternoon thunderstorms and lightning develop in the rainy season, Rosenbaum said, fires caused by lightning strikes can often start near Alligator

Alley, U.S. 27 and Krome Avenue.

“More rainfall has the tendency to put fires out,” he said. “These widely scattered rain showers tend to move over the fires, so they never move for a great period of time without getting hit by a rain shower.”

As of Friday evening, the three fires had burned a little over 22,000 acres since Wednesday as smoke and ash hung about five miles west of the Sawgrass Expressway. Few residents in western Broward and Palm Beach counties complained of smoke or ash over the weekend, Rosenbaum said.

MIKE STOCKER/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL The view from US 27 looking east at brushfires Thursday in the Everglades. Three fires were out by Monday afternoon.