Hundreds of acres continue to burn in Central Florida

FLORIDA — A 350-acre brush fire near the Orange City, Deltona, border continues to burn Sunday.

The fire began early Saturday afternoon, and the smoke slowed traffic and briefly shut down one lane of the westbound lanes of Interstate 4 near mile-markers 111 and 112, troopers said.

Veterans Memorial Parkway in Orange City has been shut down because of poor visibility since the fire began, officials said.

The fire is 75 percent contained, forestry officials said.

Kara Garlanger lives in an apartment near the fire and is hoping for rain. Voluntary evacuations were an option in Volusia County.

“It’s very scary. (We) definitely need the rain. It was scary being this close to it,” Garlanger said.

However, our WFTV team of meteorologists have said it will be some time before Central Florida will see a substantial amount of rain to help with the dry conditions.

Gov. Scott declared a state of emergency last week because of the drought-like conditions and the raging wildfires across Florida.

“We saw little fires and took some videos of it. (We) saw little fires in the background. (There were) a lot of people taking pictures. By the time we got in our car, the smoke got extremely worse,” Garlanger said.

Firefighters used tractors to set up a fire line, and helicopters dropped water on the fire.

LAKE COUNTY

Meanwhile, in Lake County, several fire crews are working to control a 782-acre brush fire.

State Road 44 has been shut down between County Road 44A and County Road 42 because of the fire, forestry officials said Sunday. State Road 44 is expected to reopen later this evening, troopers said. There is not a designated detour for the road closure, troopers said.

The fire is 40 percent contained, Lake County Fire Rescue said.

The fire began around 4 p.m., and strong winds were making it difficult for firefighters to fight the fire, the fire department said.

There are evacuations in place for Lake County residents, officials said. At one point, 20 homes were in danger of burning Saturday, but crews sprayed enough water between the houses and fire that the homes were saved, crews said.

Click here to read information from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke.

Most of Central Florida is under a burn ban, according to the Florida Forest Service. The agency also released an interactive map of the current wildfires in the state.

This is a developing story. Check back on wftv.com and Eyewitness News for updates.

Cox Media Group