Fires flame out holiday plans

The Fourth of July holiday has been a dud for many in Florida because of nature's pyrotechnics.

From families who were going to shoot off bottle rockets and hold backyard barbecues to 150,000 stock car fans whose race was postponed because of the wildfires raging across the state, many people are facing a lost weekend."Now, we'll just go home to our regular Fourth of July parties," said race fan Ted Serjak, who had brought his grandson with him from Mount Jackson, Pa., to see the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.

Last week, the governor banned private fireworks, and dozens of public displays were canceled for fear they might spark more wildfires in the drought-stricken countryside.

Pat Del Sordo of Palm Coast, who usually takes this week to help set up fireworks shows, was dodging embers as a volunteer firefighter.

"This is the week I'm usually blowing stuff up," he said. "Now I'm putting stuff out."

Nearly 100 miles of Interstate 95, the major highway along the East Coast, were closed from Jacksonville to Cocoa Beach during what is one of the busiest tourist weekends of the year, forcing thousands of travelers to take long detours. Traffic was bumper to bumper in some areas, and it took some motorists 30 minutes to drive a city block.

Wally and Mary Canfield of St. Augustine had planned to spend the long holiday weekend in Savannah, Ga. Instead, they were sitting in lawn chairs outside a convenience store south of St. Augustine with their two dogs and a bird. They canceled the drive because they were worried about their house.

As they watched the smoke billowing from the area around their neighborhood, they wondered if their house was still standing. The fire was up to the fence and the winds were swirling unpredictably the last time they saw the place.

Despite the road closings, Walt Disney World and other resorts in Orlando, 50 miles from the worst of the fires, insisted it was business as usual.