Firefighters Credit Weather For Containing Wildfires
POSTED: 11:35 am EDT May 17,
2008
PALM BAY, Fla. -- Weather conditions are making it a little easier for firefighters to combat wildfires burning in parts of Florida. Fires that destroyed dozens of homes on Florida's Atlantic Coast were 70 percent contained Saturday, the same percentage as Friday. But State Division of Forestry spokesman Todd Schroeder says higher levels of humidity and calmer winds Saturday were making it "real good weather" to fight fires in. Some rain that was expected over north Florida missed the central part of the state where it might have helped firefighting efforts.Meanwhile, Palm Bay officials released final damage figures from the fires.They show that 33 homes were destroyed by fire, while another another 236 were damaged.The value of the destroyed homes was estimated to be at $5.6 million, while the damage estimate for the other homes was around $920,000. State emergency managers say wildfires are still burning or smoldering on more than 39,000 acres around the state. That's up about 2,000 acres from Friday. Many of the fires, however, are in rural areas.
Copyright 2008 by WFTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.












