Smoke from Okefenokee Swamp fire drifts over Florida again

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Fires in Georgia&#39;s Okefenokee Swamp are spreading hazy skies and the smell of smoke across northern Florida, prompting some residents to call 911, thinking the fires are local. <br> <br> Stuart Schwartz, a spokesman for the Gainesville Fire-Rescue Department, said Wednesday the smoke from the swamp fire has drifted over the Gainesville area several times. <br> <br> Schwartz said, ``It just depends on which way the wind is blowing.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Schwartz said calls to 911 operators about the smoke was tying up emergency lines and could delay handling of actual emergencies. <br> <br> Deborah Nordeen at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge said three fires have scorched 84,483 acres in the 400,000 acre swamp in southern Georgia. <br> <br> Smoke from the swamp has also wafted to Alabama and South Carolina. <br> <br> So far in Florida this year, 1,650 fires have scorched 22,087 acres, about a fourth the size of the Okefenokee fire.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/202215