Approaching rain could provide wildfire relief for Broward, Palm Beach counties

Wildfire relief could come naturally Saturday as rain could douse some of the more than 20,000 acres in the Everglades that have burned in Broward and Palm Beach counties due to three wildfires this past week, according to forecasters.

The chance of rain and moisture, which precede an approaching cold front, means the three wildfires burning — the 2 Bravo fire in Broward, and the 2 Alpha and L39 fires in Palm Beach — might not spread much Saturday.

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“We’re expecting some rain between the late morning hours and the evening hours [Saturday] so that could help to put a damper on some of those fires,” said National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto.

“It is also possible it doesn’t fully extinguish them as well if we don’t get enough rain. But there is rain on the way, and it is possible it starts to extinguish some of that fire activity.”

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All three fires started from lightning strikes Wednesday afternoon.

As of Saturday morning, the 2 Bravo fire had burned 6,050 acres and was 30% contained according to David Rosenbaum, public information officer and mitigation specialist for the Everglades District of the Florida Forest Service.

The 2 Alpha fire had burned 5,050 acres and was 45% contained, Rosenbaum said.

The L39 fire had burned 11,500 acres and was 35% contained, Rosenbaum said.

Broward and Palm Beach counties are under a marginal risk for severe weather as the approaching cold front begins to creep into the region.

Florida Fire Service Rangers are at the 2 Bravo fire, and Rangers are expected at the 2 Alpha and L39 fires later Saturday.

The cold front could feature winds that disperse some of the smoke and ash that have bothered Palm Beach and Broward residents the past few days.

The line of rain will travel from the northwest to the southeast.

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“We’re going to start to see the northern areas of our forecast areas start raining first,” Rizzuto said, “and near the later afternoon hours we’ll see some of the southern areas like the Miami area.”

The winds could push the fires back across areas that have already burned, helping prevent the fires from spreading. There’s not much of a flood threat because the storms should be fast-moving, Rizzuto said. There could be isolated pockets of heavy storms.

But in the best scenario the rain begins to extinguish some of the fires.

“That’s one thing we’ll be looking for with the rain shower activity with this advancing front,” Rosenbaum said.