BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Brush fires caused reduced visibility on Central Florida roadways Sunday morning.
From FDOT cameras, you could see smoke hanging above State Road 528 in Brevard County. A brush fire caused troopers to temporarily shut down the highway after it was determined the road was too dangerous for drivers because of reduced visibility.
Several counties are under a no burn alert, including Seminole and Flagler counties. Both counties are also under a high fire risk. The rest of the Central Florida area is under a moderate fire risk.
Within the past week, crews battled three brush fires in Brevard and Flagler counties. As of Sunday morning, the Candleberry fire that caused evacuations was 95 percent contained, according to the Florida Forest Service in Bunnell.
News 6 meteorologist Madeline Evans said the dry weather is creating ripe conditions for fires.
"The lack of rain is the main thing. We have not seen heavy, longstanding rain. Also, when we get those fronts coming through and those winds pick up, those wind speeds get to 10, 15, 20 miles per hour and a fire starts, it really helps carry them out and live longer," Evans said.
March 2006 in Orlando was the driest March in history and now 2017 could be coming in second at a total of 0.09". pic.twitter.com/hbyEAXsE5a
— Madeline Evans (@MadelineEvansWx) March 26, 2017
Evans said Central Florida is in the middle of its dry season. It will be another couple of months until we start getting the significant amount of rain we need to prevent flare ups.
"Once May comes around and we get out of this dry season, hopefully we can start seeing those normal afternoon showers, especially around Central Florida," Evans said. "We get in such a pattern with that and that will really help us out."