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Florida Wildfires Create Danger on Highways

Florida firefighters continue to fight wildfires that over the weekend closed highways and killed one person

by Staff
May 29, 2001
1 min to read


Florida firefighters continue to fight wildfires that over the weekend closed highways and killed one person.

According to published reports, crews are still battling dozens of fires across the state. One 15-day-old fire in north Florida has burned nearly 61,000 acres.
A mixture of fog and smoke is creating visibility problems on highways. Five major highways were closed in the Orlando area Sunday morning. One man was killed and at least 10 others were injured in multiple crashes Monday on Interstate 4. One man was killed when his car ran into a tractor-trailer from behind and was struck from behind by another vehicle.
Officials were hoping the beginning of Florida's rainy season would help with wildfires that have been raging due to a three-year-drought, but lightning strikes associated with the storms have caused more fires than the ran has doused. So far this year, nearly 3,000 fires have burned more than 250,000 acres in the state.
Visibility problems are worse in the mornings, when fog combines with smoke to cut visibility to zero.

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