Hundreds evacuated as wildfires tear through Florida

Wildfires fuelled by dry, windy weather damaged about 50 homes on Florida’s central Atlantic coast and driving hundreds of residents away as the governor declared a state of emergency.

Fires in Palm Bay in Brevard County claimed about 50 homes and 3,500 acres. Pupils at two schools were released early as a precaution.

“Every time I turn around another house is on fire. We don’t have enough resources on our own to do a job like this,” said Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.

In nearby Malabar, a 3,000-acre blaze destroyed at least four homes, including the house Butch Vanfleet built in 1980 and tried in vain to protect with a garden hose.

Mr Vanfleet, 59, said the fire had reached the doorstep of the house in Malabar when he and his family fled on Sunday evening. All that stood yesterday was the chimney and a stone wall.

“It’s devastation,” Mr Vanfleet said. “All you see is nothing but ash in between the palm trees and the palmetto. There’s no grass. The fire just came so quickly, we barely got out of there.”

The Florida Highway Patrol shut down a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Brevard County around rush hour yesterday. US Highway 1 also was closed in that area, and it was not known when it would reopen, FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said.

“The fires have picked up in Malabar so it’s just heavy, thick black smoke and it’s right at driver level,” Ms Miller said.

One person may be responsible for the blaze, said Ernie Dieble, an arson investigator with the Palm Bay Police Department. An eyewitness saw someone in a car drop something into an open field, and the fire started shortly afterwards, he said.

To the north in Daytona Beach, about 800 acres had burned by last night, said Division of Forestry spokesman Timber Weller.

Authorities ordered about 500 homes in the north-west part of the city to be evacuated. No homes were reported damaged, but officials warned that embers could fly more than a mile from the blaze. A five-mile stretch of road through Daytona Beach was shut down because the fire was too close.

The fire was about 20% contained, but firefighters’ efforts would be challenged by high winds, Mr Weller said.

“The weather conditions are ripe for extreme fire behaviour,” Mr Weller said. “What we’re looking at is fairly typical for this time of year in Florida, coming into the end of the dry season.”

Firefighters also contained two smaller blazes near Cocoa that damaged four homes and two commercial structures, officials said.

Governor Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency yesterday, allowing Florida to use government funds and the National Guard, bringing local emergency workers under state control and letting Florida call on other states for help.