Water levels in dried-out Lake Okeechobee matched a historic low Wednesday while firefighters battled a blaze burning on part of the exposed lake bottom.The South Florida Water Management District expected the record of 8.97 feet from May 24, 2001, to evaporate by Thursday as the region's worst known drought continues. The average water level should be around 13 feet this time of year in the second-largest freshwater lake in the contiguous United States.
The 12,000-acre fire started Monday in the vegetation left to dry in the sun as waters receded from the lake's northwest rim, said Melissa Yunas, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Forestry.
"All the water is not there. Now it's just vegetation, all dried out, just sitting on the side of the lake," Yunas said.
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