17,000 Acre Wildfires Close Shark Valley Over Weekend as Firefighters Battle Blaze

Two lightning-sparked wildfires have burned over 17,000 acres in Everglades National Park over the weekend, forcing the emergency closure of the popular Shark Valley Area for over a day as crews worked to contain the affected area, officials said.

Referred to by the U.S. Wildland Fire Service Firefighters as the Chipmunk and Vulture fires, the former began on Friday two miles southwest of Shark Valley, while the second began on Saturday east of Shark Valley Tram Road, which led to the park’s closure due to potential smoke risks, officials said. Both were placed near the Miami-Dade and Broward County line, near Krome Avenue and U.S. 27.

The parks announced the lifting of the emergency closure at 1 p.m. on Monday, allowing the public to access the trails again. The Vulture Fire, the smaller of the two and located closer to the park area, burned a total of 347 acres and, according to authorities, has been completely contained.

The larger fire, the Chipmunk Fire, has burned approximately 17,000 acres, according to the National Park Service, and continues to burn in a sawgrass prairie six miles south of the Shark Valley Observation Tower. Firefighters are still working to put out the blaze, which sits at around 60 percent containment, according to officials.

Elizabeth Storm, the communications liaison with the National Park Service, said that the fire caused no damage to the trails or park infrastructure. She thanked the regional firefighters for their efforts in swiftly containing the fire, which she added is a natural occurrence within the resilient wetland ecosystem.

“They’re very experienced in South Florida. It’s different than it is in other places, dealing with these wildfires. They’re the best at what they do, and they’ve done a great job with it,” Storm said, also extending a thank-you to would-be park guests.

“We thank our visitors for being patient with that, because I know a lot of people have plans to visit Shark Valley, so we just appreciate people’s patience.