Fires Destory Homes, Force Closing of I-95
Major brush fires burned across Florida on Saturday, destroying dozens of homes and closing Interstate 95 northeast of Orlando.
The interstate was closed before a wall of fire two miles long and a mile wide jumped the highway. It remained closed indefinitely because of poor visibility. Traffic was diverted to U.S. 1.
The same blaze destroyed more than a dozen homes near Bunnell before it was mostly contained during the night, although a few hot spots remained. One person was treated for minor burns.
“We’ve got a rural area with a lot of underbrush that’s dry as a bone, and it’s just feeding the fire,” Flagler County spokesman Roy Longo said.
Another fire spread to 1,800 acres in Geneva in eastern Seminole County. It destroyed more than 30 homes and buildings. About 300 people were evacuated for the night.
Another fire in Lake County, west of Orlando, threatened some homes, but it was contained.
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