Now that the 344 Fire is contained, its impact can be assessed. NBC6’s Ari Odzer reports
They call it the 344 Fire, named after the road where it started, and the major roads supplying access to the Florida Keys are open.
After nearly 27,000 acres went up in flames, Card Sound Road and US 1 are free-flowing and expected to remain that way unless another fire sparks up, which is possible given the drought conditions.
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WATCH HEREThere are still firefighters working, putting out hot spots, but now that the 344 Fire is contained, its impact can be assessed.
“What fires mean generally is renewal, renourishment of soils,” said Steve Davis, the chief scientist at the Everglades Foundation, pointing out that the Everglades ecosystem is not only adapted to periodic fire but relies on it.
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“I thought, how excited I was ‘cause I like to study fire!” replied FIU professor John Kominoski when I asked what his reaction was to seeing the fire. “Fire is critical for the Everglades but there are good fires and there are bad fires.”
Kominoski is an expert on Everglades ecology. He said if a fire burns too hot, it can actually burn off the soil, which is destructive, but he doesn’t yet know if that happened with the 344 Fire.
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Davis said the location, in the area known as the Model Lands, matters.
“It’s a consequence of the way we’ve cut off the flow of freshwater from this area, particularly that area east of Card Sound Road in between US-1 and Card Sound Road, has been cut off from the flow of fresh water for decades and so it tends to dry down before other parts of the system and therefore it’s more vulnerable to fire,” Davis said.
Help for that area is on the way.
“I think it’s important to note that there is an Everglades restoration project that’s being planned right now in that footprint, so almost the exact same footprint of the fire, the Biscayne Bay Southeast Everglades restoration project is being planned to restore the hydrology of that area which will reduce the severity of these end of the dry season burns,” Davis explained.
So how soon will the area recover, ecologically?
“I think most animals know what to do and get out of the way but I think the good thing is it can stop the spread of more of the invasive plants,” Kominoski said. “The system will recover really fast.”
