Smoke Could Linger a Week

By KAREN TESTA, AP - June 99

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.  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 Jacksonville. That fire was not threatening any homes or structures on Wednesday.

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