South Florida prison evacuates as fire spreads

updated 4:30 p.m. ET May 19, 2008

MIAMI - South Florida residents were warned to stay indoors and a state prison and federal detention center were evacuated Monday as smoke from a massive wildfire in Everglades National Park billowed their way.

No structures were in danger, though officials said the fire was burning in the only known habitat for the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow.

The 56-square-mile blaze was about 30 percent contained. The smoke was blowing to the northeast, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Nina Barrow. Smoke and fog advisories were issued for Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Glades counties.

Moderate to unhealthy air quality conditions were expected throughout the week, according to the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management.

Inmates and detainees at Everglades Correctional Institution and the Krome Detention Center were being moved to other facilities as a precaution due to the nearby fires. Everglades, a state prison, evacuated 1,753 inmates, while Krome is federal immigration lockup that holds about 600.

Firefighters have been battling 88 active fires that have burned about 69 square miles from Brevard County, on the state's Atlantic coast, south to Miami-Dade County.

Six fires that had burned close to 20 square miles and destroyed a number of homes in Brevard County were about 75 percent contained, said Florida Division of Forestry spokesman Todd Schroeder. The causes of the blazes remained under investigation.

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