Long Key State Park reopens

Long Key State Park has reopened, leaving only one state park in the Florida Keys still closed because of Hurricane Irma.

Work continues at Bahia Honda State Park in the Lower Keys but storm damage to the scenic island was extensive. No estimate on possible reopening dates was available at deadline Tuesday.

Long Key, along the Atlantic oceanfront near mile marker 67.5 in the Middle Keys, also suffered from the hurricane but opened its gates to visitors earlier this week.

Most of the Keys’ state parks have opened for day use only. Several state-park campgrounds have not yet reopened. Contact individual parks for information, or visit the Florida State Park website, www.floridastateparks.org.

At Bahia Honda, storm recovery includes open-pit burning to get rid of vegetation killed by the hurricane. The city of Marathon also is burning its vegetative debris under guidelines established by the Florida Forest Service.

Contractors with the Florida Department of Transportation are using an air-curtain incinerator to reduce the volume of vegetation debris collected at a Cudjoe Key staging area. DOT has hired monitors to ensure the air curtain incinerator — designed to contain most of the smoke from burning — meets environmental standards.

Other air curtain incinerators have been considered for use at a Rockland Key storm-recovery storage area, but are not in use currently.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Long Key State Park reopens."