Update: Wildfire continues to burn near I-95

Highway covered with smoke from a wildfire

The St. Johns River Water Management District will burn out a wildfire in Brevard County on Tuesday.

PALM BAY, Fla., June 27, 2017 — A wildfire continues to burn on a St. Johns River Water Management District property west of Interstate 95 and south of State Road 520 in Brevard County.

Update as of June 27 at 9 a.m.:

A wildfire ignited by a lightning strike has burned approximately 1,700 acres of sawgrass on the district’s River Lakes Conservation Area property. Tuesday morning the district will begin burning out the remainder of the 5,000-acre tract, using an aerial helitorch, an engine and two airboats. Brevard County Fire Rescue and Florida Forest Service will provide assistance.

The Florida Highway Patrol has reopened a six-mile-long stretch of Interstate 95, but will likely shut the highway down again during the prescribed burn today. Updates on highway conditions are available online on the FHP’s Live Traffic Crash and Conditions Report.