Florida wildfires close major road, lick playground coast

May 13, 2008, 19:54 GMT

Washington - Wildfires have closed down a 60-kilometre stretch of the main road artery along Florida's playground Atlantic coast and destroyed 100 homes and autos, rescue officials said Tuesday in broadcast remarks.

The fires have forced hundreds of people to flee, and blackened more than 60 square kilometres of land and destroyed 100 homes along the coast from Daytona Beach to Palm Bay, but there have been no fire-related injuries.

'We've lost some homes but we haven't lost lives,' said Craig Fugate, the director of Florida's division of emergency management.

Firefighters were battling 108 wildfires across 6,500 hectares, with no end in sight, CNN reported.

Officials closed a 60-kilometre stretch on Interstate 95 in Florida because of heavy smoke.

Fires are also burning east of Orlando, home of Disneyworld. Seventy of the destroyed homes were in Palm Bay, about 90 kilometres southeast of Orlando. About 1,600 hectares were burning around Palm Bay, Fugate said.

Near Daytona Beach, officials already evacuated 600 homes.

Dale Armstrong, a senior forester with the state Division of Forestry, told the Miami Herald that it's not clear what started the fires, but officials do not believe there is a natural cause such as lightning.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency.