Raging Florida Wildfires destroy 160 homes
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Florida Wildfires destroy 160 homes*
By TRAVIS REED,
Associated Press Writer
PALM BAY, Fla. - A string of stubborn wildfires has destroyed or damaged
more than 160 homes on Florida's Atlantic coast.
Firefighters in Brevard County were trying for the third day to contain
fires that have scorched an estimated 10,000 acres, or more than 15
square miles, in and around the neighboring towns of Palm Bay and Malabar.
Though the high winds fueling the flames Monday had slowed
significantly, officials worried about the flames spreading quickly in
the dry conditions.
"We desperately need rain," said Palm Bay Fire Marshal Mike Couture. "We
don't have any, and we're not projected to get any anytime soon."
All 18 schools in Palm Bay were closed Tuesday. Smoke and the proximity
of the flames have caused the intermittent closure of major highways in
the area, including a 34-mile section of Interstate 95 south of the
fires that was closed again midmorning Tuesday.
"Flames are coming onto the interstate," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper
Kim Miller said.
Authorities said they had "a majority" of the Palm Bay fires contained
and were getting better control over the fires in Malabar, where
firefighters slept in shifts on cots lined up in the volunteer fire station.
"Some are caused by embers that are flying, but the locations of the
fires indicated that these were initiated separately, which makes us
firmly believe that an individual or individuals was involved in setting
those," Police Chief Bill Berger said.
Palm Bay Fire Marshal Mike Cotoure said that 62 homes there were
destroyed, a loss of $9 million, and that 100 more were damaged. At
least four homes in the rest of the county were ruined, officials said.
Neighborhoods built into dense woods were surrounded by ashes, twisted
limbs and charred tree trunks where the fires raged through. Many homes,
however, were saved.
Angel Pagan, a 35-year-old salesman, watched Tuesday as firefighters
hosed down the smoldering woods surrounding his home. A night earlier,
he neighbors used garden hoses and buckets of water to douse the flames.
Pagan sent his wife and their young sons, ages 1 year old and 1 month,
to stay with a relative.
"I cannot believe it; my house was surrounded, and my house did not go
up," Pagan said. "It's pure luck, and God."
Across the street, a stucco home was charred and crumbling. On it was
duct-taped a bright red note from the building inspector: "Totaled."
"We saved a lot of them. The fire department got here and their house
was already on fire," Pagan said, gesturing across the street.
A few miles away, Barry Self, an off-duty Palm Bay police officer, was
shoveling dirt over still-smoldering patches of woods across the street
from his home. He and two neighbors also used garden hoses late into the
night to ward off the fire as it skipped across their yards. Self lost
his backyard fence and was without electricity Tuesday afternoon, but he
said he considers himself fortunate.
"It looks like a little war zone," Self said of the area. "And we're
lucky compared to a lot of people. I'm very lucky. I drove around this
morning and saw a bunch of houses just totaled to the ground. It's
unbelievable, it really is."
Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday toured the area, which he has declared a
state of emergency. Federal officials have authorized funding to
reimburse the state's firefighting costs in Brevard County.
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Associated Press writers Kelli Kennedy in Malabar and Jennifer Kay in
Miami contributed to this report.