Fog Blog U.S. News Log: Florida Fires:

At least 5,000 acres have been torched by a pair of wildfires raging in Southwest Florida, sending thick plumes of smoke high into the sky and forcing hundreds to evacuate in Collier County.

The 22nd Ave. and the 36th Ave. Fires have merged near the Everglades Parkway east of Naples, and hit areas near the Golden Gate Estates, where several structures have burned, the hardest.

[Miami and most of Florida are shattering heat records this spring]

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the combined blaze was 10 percent contained as of Thursday morning.