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Courtesy photo / The scene from a Florida Department of Transportation camera on Interstate 95 south of New Smyrna Beach shows thick smoke billowing from a massive forest fire in nearby Brevard County that forced the closure of the highway Monday.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Driving could be hazardous on Interstate 95 in Southeast Volusia from a massive forest fire in nearby Brevard County that forced the Florida Highway Patrol to intermittently closed down a 24-mile stretch of the interstate Monday because of poor visibility resulting from smoke.
The interstate was re-opened about 6 p.m. after several closures, said spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol. The affected area was from State Road 442 in Edgewater and as far south as the southern point of Mims.
A large gray mass of smoke stemming from the 4,000-acre wildfire in Mims could be seen from the causeway bridges in New Smyrna Beach Monday afternoon and well into the evening.
Stretches of U.S. 1 on the Volusia-Brevard border were intermittently closed as well Monday, officials said.
The so-called "iron-horse" fire erupted shortly before noon Monday west of I-95, consuming 400 acres before growing rapidly and moving north of State Road 46 in Mims, before moving east and then northwest.
Volusia County spokeswoman Pat Kuehn said the fire could take several days fore firefighters to get a better handle on, even with showers expected over the next couple of days. The precipitation is not expected to have any real impact on quelling the fire, the National Weather Service in Melbourne said.
There have been no reported injuries or homes impacted, though two unoccupied hunting shed south of Oak Hill were destroyed, Kuen said.
The spokeswoman said more than 140 firefighters from Volusia and Brevard counties as well as the Florida Division of Forestry are fighting the fire straddling the borders of both counties.
Spokeswoman Montes of the highway patrol urged motorists to avoid I-95 in this area today as more closures are expected.