Newman Drive Fire burns 1,500 acres, forces evacuations in Collier County

Officials said the Newman Drive Fire started near Newman Drive off Beck Boulevard in Picayune Strand State Forest and had spread to about 1,500 acres by Tuesday morning, with containment still at 15 percent. Evacuation orders covered parts of Forest Glen, Loblolly Bay Drive and neighborhoods south from Beck Boulevard to Rattlesnake Hammock Road, including Stable Way, Union Drive, Barton Gliba Drive, Benfield Road and Le Buff Road.

A pet-friendly evacuation shelter opened at the Golden Gate Community Center at 4701 Golden Gate Parkway in Naples as smoke drifted west across the city. The Florida Highway Patrol warned drivers on Alligator Alley to watch for smoke, while Interstate 75 remained open and no lane closures had been announced as of the latest updates.

The fire drew a large response from the Florida Forest Service, Greater Naples Fire, Naples Fire crews and Collier County Sheriff’s Office aviation units, which were dropping water buckets over the burning forest. Dozers were also being brought in from Central Florida to help carve containment lines, and officials said crews had used a 15-acre back burn overnight to slow the fire’s spread. No injuries and no structural damage had been reported.

The blaze is unfolding in a landscape that carries a long environmental and engineering history. Picayune Strand is part of the Picayune Strand Restoration Project, which is restoring the natural flow of water across 55,000 acres of wetlands and sits within the broader Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The work included three pump stations, the removal of more than 260 miles of roads, the plugging of almost 50 miles of canals and the removal of more than 60 miles of logging tram roads.

That land was drained in the early 1960s for what was intended to become the largest residential subdivision in the world. The restoration effort, completed through a partnership between the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has already shown results in the return of native plant communities and wildlife such as wood storks and the endangered Florida panther. The Corps marked completion of the project’s three pump stations in January 2026, just months before fire crews were forced back into the same terrain.