UPDATE: Officials say it is anticipated that I75 from exit 105 (Golden Gate Pkwy) mile marker to exit 80 (SR 29) will remain closed throughout the night and into tomorrow.
Morning commuters are strongly encouraged to make necessary travel adjustments, leave early and expect delays. Be safe and drive with patience.
The Florida Highway Patrol will be monitoring the interstate conditions tonight and overnight.
EARLIER STORY:
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say they've shut down a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 75 in southwest Florida as firefighters continue to battle a 6,000-acre brush fire in the Picayune Strand State Forest.
The Naples Daily News reports that the Florida Highway Patrol closed the western end of Alligator Alley Tuesday afternoon.
Workers from the Florida Forest Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and firefighters from Collier, Sarasota, Lee and Charlotte counties worked through the night Monday and into Tuesday battling a brush fire that started Sunday and spread throughout eastern Collier County.
Collier County Emergency Services Director Dan Summers says weather and wind conditions have helped spread the fire, which is 30 percent contained.
Residents of several nearby communities have been evacuated.
Click here for the Alligator Alley traffic camera.
UPDATE: I-75 to remain closed in Naples OVERNIGHT due to brush fire -- https://t.co/dyO36MgWUt
— Fox 4 News (@Fox4Now) March 7, 2017
— Immokalee Fire (@ImmFire_PIO) March 7, 2017
