Raging fires close roads and threaten homes
An 800-acre fire in central Florida has closed five major Orlando highways and contributed to a nine-car crash on the Florida Turnpike. No serious injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, more than 200 firefighters were trying to contain a swamp fire in north Florida that has burned nearly 61,000 acres.
A fire that began on Saturday near Orlando covered the area in smoke and combined with fog to close main roads in Orange and Osceola counties for several hours Sunday morning.
‘‘The problem was it wasn’t just smoke, it was smoke and early morning fog that mixed at about 6am and brought visibility down to zero,’’ said Lt Chuck Williams, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman. ‘‘It’s blanketing central Florida.’’
Poor visibility also contributed to a nine-car accident in Orlando, but the highway patrol reported no serious injuries.
In north Florida, the 13-day-old Mallory Swamp fire burned through commercial timberland and swampland in Lafayette and Dixie counties. The fire, sparked by lightning, was about 25% contained.
Evacuated residents returned home but authorities were prepared to ask them to leave again, depending on where winds blew the fire, said Jim Karels, the state Division of Forestry fire chief.
Karels hoped thunderstorms predicted today would help control the fire, but noted that many recent fires were started by lightning, including most of the 19 new wildfires started on Saturday. This year, 2,844 fires have burned 254,500 acres in Florida, he said.
