Key Largo, Fla. (WFLA) — What began as a Florida Key day trip on Tuesday has become a horrifying situation for a couple who had to fight a big brush fire.
Kathy and Richard Williams told NBC 6 South Florida that they barely escaped the burning fire in counties in southern Miami as they were returning to Deerfield Beach with their families from Islamorada.
Smoke spurts from the rubble fire in Tampa
They said it was one of the last cars that made it across us before their minivan was closed. Officials said the fire began around 1pm near Card Sound Road, causing both roads to be closed to traffic as firefighters fought over 3,000 acres of flames.
Kathy and her family found a thick cloud of smoke as they crossed us, but initially assumed they were driving in a storm. They soon realized that it was a rather different situation.
“Within a few minutes we were on it, the flames were very, very close to us, we moved to us, the whole car got very hot… Just as the fire was with you,” she said. “Everyone in the car was a mess.”
Cathy said that it was nearly impossible to see other cars through the thick smoke, but felt the danger and they knew they had to pass the fire as quickly as possible. Her brother was on the wheel.
“We all told my brother, ‘You have to put the floor, you have to put the floor, you have to walk by.’
The fire became so hot that at one point the fire truck said it sprayed the minivan to keep the vehicle cool.
Leading solely by a set of blinking emergency lighting, Kathy, Richard and their four family members escaped the flames slightly and arrived safely at the house.
“We were so lucky that it came out when we did,” Kathy told NBC 6.
As of Wednesday, authorities said there were no reported injuries in the fire or no threat to nearby structures. The fire included about 20% on Wednesday morning, and both US 1 and Card Sound Road were still closed as firefighters worked to put out the flames.
