Florida has been going through another dry spell and that normally means fires. Some of these fires are started by idiots, some my lightening, and others by...?
Last week a section of I95 was shut down due to smoke from a large ground fire. I drove by and saw the huge plume of smoke rising from this smouldering monster. It was pretty huge. Yesterday a section of I75, in the same county in which I live, was shut down due to smoke from another fire.
The challenge for fire fighters with the fires like the one that shut down I95 is that the fire goes under ground. For the most part the earth here isn't really "dirt" such as that found in most other places but is a mixture of dense decomposing organic matter. The ground itself burns in a smouldering manner than produces a lot of smoke and is very difficult to put out. It can smoulder for days or even weeks and when conditions are right suddenly break loose above ground again and burn huge areas in a very short time.
This morning I awoke to the sound of thunder. There is a ripping thunderstorm going on at the moment dumping rain on us. Hopefully it will be enough to soak the ground a bit a put out these fires. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to last long enough to really make a big difference in long term ground moisture. And then there's the lightening. This is the cause for a great many of the fires here so while the rain may be wetting the ground a bit one has to wait and see if the lightening will actually start more fires than the rain puts out/prevents.
Florida climate can be really weird and complex.