Smoke from the fires blended with fog early Monday and blanketed I-95 in Brevard County, forcing the closure for several hours of a 20-mile stretch of highway. Another 12 miles remained shut down late Monday morning because of the smoke. Authorities blamed the low visibility for a five-vehicle crash that killed two people Sunday.
“The hint to motorists is don’t use I-95 in the next couple of days if you don’t have to. We want motorists to avoid 95 from Indian River County up to Jacksonville,” said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller.
The flames were right behind Rita McSweeney’s home when she fled her golf course community.
“I could see it through the woods,” McSweeney told The Daytona Beach News-Journal. “The sky was black, black, black, black, and then it would turn fire engine red. It felt like I could reach out and touch the fire.”
