2 Persons Killed, Thousands Flee : Florida, Georgia Fires Raging; Miami Area Hit by Blackout

Wildfires that consumed about 29,000 acres and killed two persons burned out of control Friday in Florida and Georgia, forcing evacuations, closing major highways and shutting down power to 4.5 million residents.

The blazes swept across northern and central Florida, while a 10,000-acre fire in the south cut power for several hours to the Miami area. Some 25,000 acres were burning Friday in the state, in addition to 2,000 acres that burned Thursday.

Larry Amison, a forestry division spokesman, said that thousands of persons in 10 mostly northern Florida counties were evacuated. He did not have an exact figure on how many left their homes.

20 Counties Affected

He said that all firefighting units and personnel available from Tallahassee were battling the fires in at least 20 counties. Two firefighters were injured, but were reported in good condition, Amison said.

“The big factor in the last couple of days has been high, very erratic winds and low humidity,” said Amison.

The National Weather Service reported that at least 11 homes had been burned by one fire in Franklin County, in the Panhandle, and that several persons had been treated for smoke inhalation in that area. Four structures were burned in Orange County, east of Orlando, said Amison.

In other blazes along the Georgia-Florida border, 13 forest fires that began Thursday destroyed about 2,000 acres of swampland before being extinguished Friday, officials said.

“I hear the whole state is in trouble,” said Linda Barber of the State Division of Forestry in Ocala, in northern Florida. She said that several fire departments had called asking for help, but “we didn’t have any to give.”

Flames fanned by 20-m.p.h. winds were reported to be burning out of control just west of the Ocala National Forest after burning 800 acres of swamp and timberland, Barber said.

Major Highway Closed

A portion of Florida 40, a major east-west route, was closed and residents of 60 to 80 homes were advised to evacuate, Barber said. No injuries were reported.

“We’re burning up all over the county,” said forest service dispatcher Sam Funtner, in De Leon Springs, about 35 miles north of Orlando. “You can’t go 15 miles in any direction without running into a fire.”

The fires forced officials in Flagler County to seal off the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 and U.S. 1, and traffic was being rerouted, said Les Stern, a deputy with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department.

National Guard troops moved into Flagler County, and officials sealed off all north-south traffic into the county Friday evening, Amison said.

Earlier, Gov. Bob Graham authorized the National Guard to fight fires throughout the state, said Steve Hull a spokesman for the governor.

Robert Tabor, 50, a firefighter from Lake City, was killed late Thursday in a blaze that had burned 1,000 acres of prime north Florida timberland, said Amison.

In Georgia, one man died in the swamp fires, said Foster Smith, a ranger with the Georgia Forestry Commission. He gave no other details.

The wind-fanned blazes swept through swamps near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and were aided by the dry weather that has left much of the ground unusually dry, he said. Echols County Sheriff C. E. Carter said that those fires were out Friday night.

Smith estimated that the largest of the 13 fires burned about 1,500 acres, with 1,600 acres burned in Georgia and another 400 to 500 acres burned in Florida.

One man was charged with arson in one of the border blazes, according to the Echols County Sheriff’s Department.

Safety Cutoff Triggered

In the south, flames from a 10,000-acre fire in western Broward County overheated major north-south electrical lines, shutting power to four counties, including Miami, said Florida Power & Light spokeswoman Mary Ann Linden. The heat triggered a safety cutoff, she said.

“Those lines carry 500 kilovolts (500,000 volts), and are the largest power transmission lines we have,” Linden said. “The lines that were affected carry power all the way from Georgia.”

By Friday night technicians had restored electricity to virtually all of the estimated 1.5 million residences and businesses affected by the outage, said another utility spokesman, Tom Veenstra.

In Apalachicola National Forest in Florida’s Panhandle, more than 2,000 acres were burned Thursday. The blaze was brought under control early Friday, said Amison.