Dry Weather To Prevail, Florida Wildfire Might Also Continue For Days

Malabar, FL (AHN) - A state of emergency has been declared in Florida on Monday afternoon. Governor Charlie Christ will be visiting a command center near the Brevard County fires on Tuesday.

A wildfire that has been raging since Sunday and carried on into Monday, forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes. The blaze has destroyed 50 homes in Palm Bay in the Brevard County.

Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez told the Associated Press, "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."

In Malabar, a 3000 acre blaze destroyed at least 2 homes. In th e north in Daytona Beach, around 800 acres burned down by Monday afternoon.

The winds became dangerous as they carried along burning embers and the weather became dry and parched. Schools as well as offices had to be evacuated to prevent further casualties.

Firefighters have been incessantly fighting a tough battle to control the fire. Joe Gianantonio, chief of the volunteer Malabar Fire Department said, "It's our worst nightmare. We've got 25 to 30 years of undergrowth out there, low humidity and high winds. You have got embers going up 1,000 feet in the air and the wind sending them a mile to a mile-and-a-half, starting spot fires. It's hard to get a handle on," reports Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Firefighters have said that the fire is likely to continue for some more days as weather conditions are not conducive to its dying down anytime soon.

Weather forecasts have predicted dry weather and strong winds for the next several days.

Interstate 95, near the Malabar Road exit was closed down on Monday afternoon. The highway was closed on Sunday but reopened on Monday. However, as the fire spread it was closed again in the afternoon.

Fire officials said that they were suspicious about the origin of the fires as the county hasn't seen any significant rain in the past several weeks.

An arson investigator has said that someone might have started the fire. An eyewitness saw a car passenger drop something in an open field just before the fire started.