OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN)– Several brush fires broke out across Central Florida, with one leading to an emergency evacuation.
The smoke stretched for miles on Sunday, prompting the evacuation of nearby businesses near Orlando.
“Florida bipolar right now, it need to fix itself. This is not alright, this is not good,” said Keyon Tamby, who worked near the affected area. “It gets cold, it gets hot, then it gets cold again, then it gets hot again. It needs to be fixed. I don’t like it.”
The fires came weeks after a historic cold snap.
Jeffery Smith, who lives nearby, woke up to a wall of smoke.
“I came out of the house and all I seen was a black cloud of smoke. People started calling me and saying they were evacuating. You know, Restaurant Depot and stuff like that, there’s a big fire going on,” said Smith.
Osceola County Fire Rescue teams evacuated nearby businesses and worked for hours alongside multiple agencies on the ground and in the air to contain the blaze.
“Our firefighting posture is kind of modified based on some of the safety concerns presented by some of the propane tanks we have on the scene there, but as soon as it is safe for us to get back to the fireground, we will resume that,” said Joshua Holder, from Osceola County Fire Rescue.
Four brush fires also broke out along Interstate 95 near Port Orange and Daytona Beach.
The fires caused major traffic delays, with roadways shut down for hours.
The flames also burned 20 cars at a campground.
“These cold temperatures usually bring drier conditions with them. As those dry conditions persist for weeks, and weeks, and weeks, and then these high winds move in, that’s what creates these environments where you see a really, really high risk for wildfires,” said Holder.
No injuries have been reported from any of the fires.
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