Published: May 12, 2008 07:05 am         

Brush fires force home evacuations in Florida

MALABAR, Fla. (AP) — Brush fires forced residents to flee more than 500 homes in central Florida on Sunday and closed a major interstate, authorities said.

A fire in Volusia County has burned between 500 and 600 acres and caused road closures and home evacuations, state Division of Forestry spokesman Timber Weller said.

About 400 homes in the neighborhood near Daytona Beach were under a mandatory evacuation order and 200 more homes were under a voluntary order.

Weller said windy, dry conditions were challenging the fire crews.

“Control is extremely difficult, and there’s basically several small subdivisions in the area and fires burning, in some cases, very close to the homes,” Weller said.

A fire near Cocoa had burned more than 100 acres and forced evacuations of about 100 to 200 homes, Brevard County Fire and Rescue spokesman Orlando Dominguez said.

Heavy smoke from another fire in the Brevard community of Malabar forced authorities to close part of Interstate 95, the major East Coast corridor.