Wildfire Burns in So. Florida State Park

Smoke from a wildfire in a South Florida state park could be seen and smelled for miles Tuesday as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze.

The Picayune Strand State Park fire spread to more than 3,000 acres Monday, the Naples Daily News reported. Gerry LaCavera of the Florida Division of Forestry said that the fire had not spread significantly since Monday night.

In downtown Naples, more than 10 miles away, people could smell smoke and see bits of ash falling.

Ashes are coming down like snow, a resident e-mailed the newspaper.

This spring has been a bad one for wildfires in the southeast. Both Florida and Georgia have had several large wildfires, with the worst a major blaze on the edge of Georgia’s storied Okefenokee Swamp.

LaCavera said the Picayune Strand fire was about 25 percent contained and firefighters hoped that new fire breaks would keep it from spreading as winds pick up.