A massive blaze was burning Monday in the Florida Everglades, consuming more than 15,000 acres in less than a day, authorities said.
Lightning sparked the brush fire in western Broward County Sunday at 6:30 p.m. and flames had consumed 15,500 acres by 11:50 a.m. on Monday, the Florida Forest Service said, according to NBC 2.
Video posted by the local outlet show clouds of thick black smoke lined by a wall of flames moving across sawgrass.
“It’s going to keep burning until we get rain,” Scott Peterich, wildlife mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service’s Everglades District, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
There is no rain in the weather forecast for the area.
The cities of Coral Springs and Parkland advised people with respiratory issues to stay indoors due to the smoke.
Peterich said winds may change by Monday afternoon, and push the smoke north toward Palm Beach County and away from the US 27 highway.
No injuries have been reported from the inferno.