Grass Fire in Miami-Dade Park Threatened Homes, Businesses

HOMESTEAD — A grass fire burned through about 70 acres of the Goulds Pineland Preserve and adjoining land on Thursday afternoon. The blaze threatened nearby homes and businesses before it was brought under control by first responders. The only structural damage was to a shed belonging to an area homeowner.

"The biggest problem of this fire was actually the smoke," Lt. Felipe Lay of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told Patch. "There was a lot of smoke and we were just concerned about residents nearby, and just advising them to stay indoors, to make sure they close their windows, turn their AC's on and make sure to stay inside especially if they had any type of respiratory issues." (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Palmetto Bay-Cutler Bay Patch.)

Watch below as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews battle the grass fire.

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Lay said that the fire broke out at about noon and was contained by evening rush thanks in part to rains moving through the area.

"Mother nature helped," he said. Goulds Pineland Preserve is managed by Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program. Also assisting with the fire were the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department and the Florida Forest Service.

"It was surrounded by residential areas and it was very close to U.S. 1 where there were some businesses," according to Lay. "The wind propagated the fire and made it larger. It extended it somewhat close to the businesses that were along U.S. 1."

Watch as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews battle a grass fire.

Photo and video courtesy of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue