ORLANDO, Fla. --
Smoke from the largest wildfire in Georgia's history that blanketed Central Florida over the weekend, prompting a flood of 911 calls, will linger in the area but is not expected to be as heavy as seen Sunday.
The smoke from the 100-mile blaze in Georgia made its way to Central Florida Sunday because of dominant high pressure.
"The smoke was terribly thick for most of the day," Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry said. "Sunday, we had the perfect setup to blow that smoke into Central Florida."
However, high pressure will be shifting off to the east and winds will be shifting Monday which means less smoke.
"Monday, the winds are not as strong so we are not seeing all that smoke blowing southward," Mowry said. "There will still be a faint smell of smoke in the air but not nearly as bad as Sunday."
Health officials are urged people with allergies, asthma and other breathing disorders to stay indoors and limit outdoor activity.
"Sunday's smoke was so thick that our original day of sunshine turned into a hazy, ugly day," Local 6's Michele Cimino said.
Red flag warnings remain in effect Monday for most of Central Florida.
Ga. Fire Contained
Firefighters have managed to contain about 70 percent of the largest wildfire in Georgia history, which had charred 100 square miles of forest and swampland, officials said Monday.
Shifting winds and drought-parched forest and swampland have continued to fuel the growth of the vast fire. Haire said more than 20 fires were burning in southeast Georgia on Sunday.
"We are encouraging our citizens to be very conscious of their outdoor activities," said Haire.
A few families remained evacuated from their homes on the opposite side of U.S. Highway 1 from the main blaze, in an area where smaller spot fires started during the weekend, said Georgia Forestry Commission spokeswoman Susan Reisch.
Firefighters patrolled a 16-mile stretch of the highway, which remained closed, and the main body of the wildfire had not spread east across the highway into miles of tinder-dry forest.
Wind gusting to 15 mph and extreme drought conditions with no rain in the forecast mean the fire will continue to rage for at least another week, Reisch said.
"We are still in the throes of a very, very difficult effort and we anticipate this fire burning intensely for at least another week -- and maybe another month," Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Buzz Weiss agreed.
The blaze started April 16 near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Although the wildfire is 70 percent contained, officials estimated the date of control is June 1 with "success depending largely on holding the burnout and completion of control lines in the southeast section," according to the Wildland Fire and Incident Information System .
Two other wildfires that broke out early Sunday in counties near the main fire -- one in Charlton County and one on the line of Brantley and Glynn counties -- were not connected with the wildfire near Waycross, Reisch said.
