Officials assess damage as Florida wildfires burn
PALM BAY, Florida (CNN) — Assessment teams plan to fan out around Palm Bay, Florida, on Tuesday to gauge the damage done by a wildfire that continues to burn.
City officials have estimated that flames damaged or destroyed about 50 homes, said Jim Stables, assistant chief of the Palm Bay Fire Department.
Investigators were looking into the possibility that an arsonist started the 3,500-acre blaze, officials said.
Mazziotti said a $10,000 reward was in place for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for starting the fire.
Investigators were acting on several tips, he said. Watch the fires continue to burn
I think its sick, Halie Vail, who had a neighbor lose a house, told CNN affiliate WFTV-TV. I think they’ll probably burn in hell. They created hell, they’ll burn in hell for it.
Palm Bay Mayor John Mazziotti said the fire was burning about three to four blocks from my place and he had moved his family to a safer area.
If there’s smoke, you probably need to pack up and go someplace else because it’s pretty dangerous, Mazziotti said.
The Brevard County city on Florida’s Atlantic side has not announced mandatory evacuations, said Assistant Fire Chief John Stables.
We’re handling it on a case-to-case basis depending on the conditions of the homes and things like that, Stables said.
Stables and Mazziotti said the city was running short of resources to fight the fire.
We’ve exhausted all local resources, and we’re utilizing several resources from around the state, Stables said, adding that two helicopters with drop buckets from the state Division of Forestry were just not enough.
We’re at limited water as well, he said.
We’re in a really bad situation right now with the drought index, he said. We have no rain, and in turn, this wind has caused us a great deal of issue with that as well.
Mazziotti, asked if the city had enough resources, said simply, No.
Residents took it upon themselves to try to help each other out.
I can’t sit by and watch, resident Matt Call told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV. I can’t evacuate and run away. I have to step up.
Call and Robert Johnson were part of a group running to fire lines to help strangers.
If it makes a difference of me saving one of my neighbors’ homes by staying here and helping, then I stay here and fight, Call told WKMG.
If this house goes, then it is going to jump to the next house and then the next house and then eventually to mine, Johnson told WKMG reporters.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency earlier Monday as the fires, fed by drought conditions and strong winds, spread. Crist activated the National Guard to help battle the blazes and help with evacuations.
Palm Bay Fire spokesman Yvone Martinez said three firefighters were injured — including one who was airlifted from the scene — but she did not know the nature of their injuries.
All 18 schools in Palm Bay were closed Tuesday, according to the Brevard County Public Schools’ Web site. Parts of Interstate 95 and U.S. Highway 1 in Brevard County that were closed because of smoke conditions have reopened, according to CNN affiliate WKMG-TV.
Palm Bay wasn’t the only place affected by the drought-fueled wildfires. Two other blazes in Brevard County burned about 200 acres in Cocoa, but were almost completely contained, authorities said. Watch a home go up in flames
