Fla. After a long period of slow progress in the battle against Florida wildfires, shifting and strengthening westerly winds yesterday fanned fires west of Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and the Daytona Beach area , turning them once again into running fires. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people, including two nursing homes, are under mandatory evacuation orders. Forty-six homes and four businesses have been destroyed or damaged. There has been reports of more fire damage in Ormond Beach and the Bear Creek area. Winds died down overnight, though lightning from thunderstorms in Volusia and Flagler counties ignited at least 12 new fires, according to local media accounts.
Additional evacuations are possible as the winds strengthen again today.
Eight of the shelters are in Volusia County and one each is open in Seminole, Lake, Flagler and Brevard counties. Local authorities are operating three additional shelters in Volusia County, though no population figures for these shelters were available this morning. The Salvation Army has undertaken all field food operations, establishing a new warehouse for storage and distribution at the Daytona Mall. Impact on infrastructure from the fires includes disruption of transportation systems and the growing potential for problems with the Daytona area's water system. Both the Ormond Beach Airport and the Daytona Beach International Airport are reported closed this morning, the latter because of a non-operational radar system.