Wildfire — Hendry, Florida

2008-05-01 to 2008-05-31 · Hendry, Florida

Event narrative

Wildfires burning muck or peat exposed by ongoing dry conditions along the southwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee spread to over 15 miles long from near Lakeport to near Clewiston and covered almost 30,000 acres as of May 31. Multiple road closures occurred nearly every night through the period, especially along US 27 and state roads 720 and 78, as the smoke settled near the ground and caused low visibilities. Several RVs were also threatened near the Moore Haven Marina & RV Resort.

The very low visibilities from the wildfires caused a chain-reaction accident on the morning of May 16th along US Highway 27 at Airglades Boulevard in extreme northern Hendry County between Clewiston and Moore Haven. A total of five accidents were reported, with 11 vehicles involved. One person died and 29 were taken to the hospital. The lead vehicle in the crash failed to slow down to avoid a collision, which triggered the rest of the accident.

Wider weather episode

A series of muck fires burned along the dry lakebed of southwestern Lake Okeechobee near the Glades and Hendry county shoreline for almost the entire month of May. Smoke from these fires periodically closed area roads and caused an accident involving fatalities in northern Hendry County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 102378. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.