Monday, May 19, 2008

Drought & Fires in Florida

Drought-stricken Florida continued to burn over the weekend as crews battled fires from Everglades National Park to the exposed lake bed of mammoth Lake Okeechobee. With Florida experiencing a drought that has enveloped the entire Southeast, state fire crews were battling 90 active fires Sunday that have burned nearly 40,000 acres, according to the state Division of Forestry. A separate fire in the Everglades, which is administered and maintained by federal officials, had burned through 21,000 acres and was only 20% contained by Sunday night. The combination of the blazes closed roads and highways in Florida and has destroyed 40 buildings and damaged another 60 around the state.

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