Swamp fire in wildlife refuge spreads to eleven thousand acres

FOLKSTON - A swamp fire sparked by lightning spread to eleven thousand acres today in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and another fire on the edge of the swamp grew from eleven acres to about one thousand acres. <br> <br> Refuge ranger Maggie O&#39;Connell says officials are not alarmed about the larger blaze, which began in thick scrub brush Tuesday after a lightning storm. That fire is located deep inside the 400-thousand-acre swamp that straddles the Georgia-Florida border. <br> <br> State forestry officials ordered water-dropping planes for a smaller fire near Bay Creek on the western edge of the park, which is much closer to private land. Aerial water drops were expected to continue through the early part of the week. <br> <br> No homes are threatened by either fire, and the park remains open.