Local doctor provides safety tips as South Miami-Dade fire rages on for nearly a week – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

FLORIDA CITY, FLA. (WSVN) – – A South Florida doctor is providing safety tips on how residents living in South Miami-Dade can stay safe as crews continue battling a grass fire that has been burning for nearly a week.

The fire has sent smoke and burned debris into the air, blanketing parts of Florida City and the South Miami-Dade area.

Dr. Carlos Penaherrera, a physician at Baptist Health, said one of the best ways to lessen the effect of the fire is to install a new air conditioning filter.

“A nice filter, a fresh filter, can help filter out those particulates that have entered or may enter the household,” he said.

Penaherrera added that wearing a mask, like many did during COVID, can come in handy as well.

“Simple masks, N95 masks are a great barrier to help protect our airways from that particulate that we would be exposed to in the outdoor setting. So those masks that we used during COVID times can come in handy during an instance like this,” he said.

The doctor also advised that when the AC in your home or car is on and running, set it to recirculate mode to help keep the smoke from the fire out.

Residents in the Florida City area who spoke to 7News said they have tried to avoid the smoke smell.

“I suffer from asthma, so, yeah, I try to stay inside as much as I can right now,” said area resident Leslie Gonzalez. “We had to run errands and obviously get dinner, but, yeah, you can smell, it’s really strong.”

Gonzalez said that while inside her home, she’s protected.

“And I was like, ‘I gotta tell my family, ya know?’ This is crazy. I mean, we can’t smell the smoke really indoors, we have impact windows, so that’s been pretty decent,” she said.

Others said they haven’t been able to escape the sight and smell of the burning fire.

“I haven’t been outside much today, to be honest with you. I thought it was a small thing and it’ll be out today, but as you can see, it’s worsened, man,” said area resident James Graham.

A team of firefighters are currently hard at work putting out the flames.

As of 10 p.m., the Florida Forest Service said the fire has burned 14,000 acres and is 20% contained.

Officials said that with the wind pattern shifting Thursday, people living in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are likely to smell the smoke from the fire, too.

“We’ve been through some things down here. So we’re gonna be all right, we’re gonna be OK,” said Graham.

The City of Homestead said the fire will not affect the NASCAR event happening this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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