South Florida Burns - Don't Breathe the Air

[Guest guest]

May 26, 1999

Florida Smoke Could Linger for a Week

By KAREN TESTA

Associated Press Writer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — School children were kept indoors, golfers

struggled to breathe and asthma sufferers were urged to carry emergency

inhalers as putrid smoke from a smoldering fire blanketed South Florida.

And with no rain in the foreseeable future, forestry officials said

Wednesday it could take at least a week to flood the 10,000 acres of

smoldering Everglades muck that was sending thick smoke into the sky.

Water managers on Wednesday began installing several pumps — each capable of

spewing at least 25,000 gallons per minute — to flood the Rotenberger

Wildlife Management Area, where a lightning strike ignited dry sawgrass on

Friday.

About 26,000 acres burned in the wilderness area before it was contained and

eventually burned out this week.

Fires rage across Florida

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----

However, about 10,000 acres of rich, organic peat-like soil continued to

burn underground. Smoke filled the skies over coastal communities from Miami

150 miles north to Fort Pierce.

The nasty air quality and invisible charred particles are a particular

problem for people with chronic respiratory ailments. The American Lung

Association of Southeast Florida urged people to stay indoors.

The state Health Department hadn't issued any specific warnings Wednesday.

But some schools were not taking a chance and kept children inside.

Judy Alvarez, head golf pro at Villa Delray Golf Club in Delray Beach, said

golfers have had a tough time breathing, even though there's been no

decrease in the number of people signing up for tee times.

``They're afraid of a typhoon or a hurricane, but not smoke,'' she said.

Meanwhile, more than 13,400 acres had burned in northern Florida's Baker

County, about 50 miles west of ville. That fire was not threatening

any homes or structures on Wednesday.