Wildfires sparked mainly by lightning threatened to converge into single, vast blazes, crossed natural firebreaks such as rivers and interstate highways, and demanded an unprecedented suppression response of firefighting resources from across the country.

Regular activities such as Fourth of July celebrations, sporting events, tourism, and daily life were profoundly interrupted for millions of residents and visitors in the northeastern part of the state.

[1] Exacerbating the wildfire risk was the fact that development in Florida had proceeded with many new communities being built on former rural, wooded properties, often with heavy vegetation within feet of structures, and without municipal water systems and fire hydrants.

[4] Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27 saw some abatement of conditions with the arrival of rain, and Monday the 28th, Federal agencies brought in firefighting resources including helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

[2] By July 4, 135 miles of I-95 from Jacksonville to Titusville was closed,[4] and Division of Forestry models indicated that several fires could merge into one conflagration stretching from Daytona to St.

Over 150 homes and structures were lost, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that over $300 million of Florida's timber resources had burned.

[2] No deaths were directly attributed to the wildfires,[1] but the crew of one responding aircraft, a Sikorsky Skycrane, was tragically lost 25 miles from its destination enroute home when it developed a mechanical failure.