After more than a week of firefighting efforts, the wildfire known as the 344 Fire which scorched over 26,000 acres in Southwest Miami-Dade has been declared under control. As Miami-Dade Fire Rescue confirmed on X, the effort to contain the blaze was marked by a collective response from multiple agencies, including MDFR, MiamiDadeEM, and the Florida Forest Service.
The #344Fire is now #UnderControl. This was truly a team effort, by #MDFR, @MiamiDadeEM, @FLForestService, @MiamiDade_SO and other partner agencies who worked together to protect our community. pic.twitter.com/1lMPDa7ObN
— Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (@MiamiDadeFire) March 23, 2025
Amidst the battle against the blaze that began on March 13, significant disruptions were felt, with U.S. 1 and Card Sound Road experiencing closures - the latter of which was shut down completely, this was exacerbated by the spring break traffic and the anticipation of NASCAR Cup Series events at Homestead Miami Speedway which aerospace professional Sara Jones expressed concerns about potentially being canceled in a NBC Miami interview, yet fans like Jones were relieved when the races continued as planned despite the environmental turmoil.
The Florida Department of Transportation kept billboards updated in real time to notify drivers of the changing conditions on the roads leading in and out of the Keys, ensuring the public remained informed during this period of uncertainty. Notably, challenging ground conditions hindered the direct access of firefighting equipment to the heart of the conflagration, as Kevin MacEwen from the Florida Forest Service revealed in a Hoodline report, describing the dual difficulties of the terrain being "dry enough for everything to burn, but wet enough that we can’t put our equipment there without sinking."
The containment of the 344 Fire at 65% was achieved through the use of helicopters deploying Bambi Buckets to douse the flames from above, offering a reprieve from the challenges faced on the ground, and despite the absence of reported injuries or immediate threats to structures, the potential for rapid fire spread remained a concern under the Fire Weather Watch due to low humidity and strong winds with warnings against outdoor burning issued to the public by local officials, according to reports from Hoodline.
