Card Sound Road, 18-Mile Stretch reopen as brush fire battle continues
A brush fire in southern Miami-Dade, dubbed the 167 West fire, has impacted travel to and from the Florida Keys.
As of late Friday evening, Card Sound Road and all lanes on 18-Mile Stretch had fully reopened after intermittent lane closures that began Thursday afternoon.
Travel to the Florida Keys
Drivers are being warned that road closures and conditions can change as they continue to battle the fire.
Jason Pita and a couple of buddies wanted to do a day trip to the Keys. He said weighed the risk of getting stuck there in exchange for a day on the water.
"Yeah we're going down. We already drove. We drove like 30 minutes, 40 minutes, we need to go down," he said.
Last March, a brush fire in roughly same area burned more than 26,000 acres and caused intermittent closures of Card Sound Road and the 18-miles stretch for a week.
Pita's friend William Mendez says he got stuck in traffic during that fire. He didn't think he'd have to go through this again so soon.
"I got stuck down in the Keys for a couple of days. I think it was two days and some change," he said.
Firefighting efforts continue
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is assisting the Florida Forest Service in containing the fire.
The forest service said as of Friday afternoon the fire had burned 400 acres and was 50% contained.
Officials are asking the public to stay away from the affected area while emergency crews work to bring the fire under control.
South Florida is listed as moderate risk on the Florida Forest Service Fire Danger map.
