Overview

• An underground wildfire, coupled with severe drought conditions in Louisiana, is causing dense smoke and leading to fatal crashes on Interstate 10 in New Orleans.
• The smoke, which took on a dense fog-like quality, completely enveloped the highway, leading to virtually zero visibility for motorists.
• The wildfire is currently burning in the forested wetlands between Bayou Sauvage National Urban Wildlife Refuge and the Michoud Canal and does not pose a threat to commercial or residential structures.
• The accident caused by the smoke led to the death of one person and involved multiple vehicles, closing the highway for several hours.
• The smoky conditions may persist until Friday when a cold front is set to move into the area, which might shift the smoke towards the city itself.
• This situation evokes recent memory of a 'super fog' caused by smoke from marsh fires mixing with dense fog, which resulted in a deadly pile-up of 158 cars on Interstate 55.