Smoke from Okefenokee fire spreading to South Carolina, Alabama

FOLKSTON - A fire blazing in south Georgia&#39;s Okefenokee Swamp is sending a heavy layer of smoke across middle Georgia and into neighboring South Carolina and Alabama. <br> <br> The smoke has drifted more than 250 miles away from the blaze all the way to Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama and has prompted officials to warn residents about air quality. <br> <br> The 400,000-acre swamp, which straddles the Georgia-Florida border, has been the site of more than 12 major fires since 1989. <br> <br> Deborah Nordeen is fire information officer at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Folkston. She says there are two fires burning in the swamp. <br> <br> Officials don&#39;t know what sparked the larger fire. That one started near Blackjack Island and has burned more than 40,000 acres. The smaller fire, known as the Bay Creek Fire, apparently was started by lightning March 27 but not discovered until May 2. <br> <br> Jeff Rockwell, assistant chief of the Georgia Forestry Commission, said today that the Bay Creek Fire has burned about 3,500 acres at the western edge of the swamp.

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