MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — The Highway 41 Fire in west Miami-Dade is now 100% contained after burning 9,149 acres over the course of just over a week, officials confirmed Monday.

The fire erupted April 25 to the south and west of Tamiami Trail, just past Krome Avenue, closing some parking lots and facilities in the area and affecting multiple air boat operators.

The owner of one Everglades airboat attraction returned to the water Thursday to survey the damage left behind by the blaze.

Jose Novo, CEO of Everglades Safari Park, rode an airboat through scorched marshland along the highway corridor, seeing for the first time how far the fire had spread.

“This was a pretty big fire and it spread very, very quick,” Novo said.

From the water, the damage was uneven — large stretches of blackened sawgrass broken up by pockets of untouched greenery just feet away.

From the airboat, the burn scar extended for miles in some directions, showing how rapidly and irregularly the fire moved through the River of Grass.

Novo said the intensity of the fire was driven in part by accumulated fuel on the ground.

“It was very hot due to a lot of trees that have rotted and fell down throughout the years,” he said.

Officials noted that South Florida’s dry season, which typically runs from December through April, increases the risk of brush fires across the region.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.