Smoke from North Florida wildfires is as thick as London fog over the Sarasota area, thanks to a low pressure system blowing it our way.

Forecasters say to expect the smoke to clear off later this afternoon as the low moves toward the west and winds shift from northerly to northwesterly. But the smoke will be back tomorrow morning because winds will die down tonight.

In the meantime, public health officials warn that people with respiratory or hearth conditions should stay indoors with the air conditioning running.

“Folks who are healthy may experience some of the symptoms, the coughing, scratchy throat, irritated sinuses and shortness or breath,” said Kevin Tate, press secretary for the Florida Department of Health.

The smoke comes from 238 active fires in the state, most of them in northern and Central Florida. The biggest is a 16,000 acre fire in Bradford County .

Two additional fires burning for weeks in Georgia’s Okeefenokee Swamp jumped the state line overnight, crossing Highway 2 and threatening homes in the area.

So far the 2007 fire season is the worst since 1999 when wild fires burned 46 home in Port St. Lucie, said Jim Harrell, spokesman for the Florida Division of Forestry.
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Crews already battling more than 200 wildfires across Florida could face another problem Tuesday: The largest brushfire in Georgia history just moved 20 miles in a day and threatened to cross the border near the Osceola National Forest.

Dozens of homes have already been evacuated in at least two parts of Florida, and hundreds more residents are on standby to flee. Besides the sheer number of fires, high wind and tinder-dry conditions are making it difficult to battle the blazes, which cover about 50,000 acres.

"The weather expected is red-flag conditions for all of Florida," said Jim Harrell, a state Division of Forestry spokesman.

Florida is already under a state of emergency declared late last week by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Evacuations were ordered late Monday after three fires grew together in north-central Florida's Alachua and Bradford counties, forming a 16,000-acre group of blazes. Earlier that day, 30 homes in Walton County in the Panhandle were evacuated under an advancing 1,200-acre fire.

About 80 new fires popped up Monday, Harrell said. He said most were probably started by wind-whipped embers from existing fires or lightning strikes from a weekend ring of thunderstorms. Harrell said a few were possible arson.

So far no injuries have been reported, but a few homes have been damaged and destroyed in Bay County and the Alachua-Bradford area.

Meanwhile, residents in Volusia and Flagler counties on the Atlantic Coast waited on high alert as a more than 6,000-acre fire was near homes.

In southeastern Georgia, high winds from the northeast pushed the state's largest ever wildfire deeper into the Okefenokee Swamp, causing the potential for new startups, said Devon Dartnell, a spokesman for the firefighters' joint information center in Georgia.

"We've got a repeat of yesterday," Dartnell said. "The fire spread was very rapid moving through the wildfire refuge."

Residents of 20 homes west of Folkston, Ga., were asked to voluntarily evacuate. Crews have closed a section of highway for reinforcement as a fire break to prevent the spread into Florida.

The Georgia Forestry Commission has said the blaze was ignited near Waycross three weeks ago and has now burned 100,000 acres. The agency said the blaze was caused by a fallen tree striking a power line, but it suspects arsonists may have started six smaller fires that later flared up nearby.

Harrell said the Georgia fire could threaten unincorporated areas of Florida's Baker County that nearly burned down three and a half years ago.

Lingering smoke and haze from around Florida have also forced schools to limit outdoor activities and prompted public health warnings in the Tampa area.

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