PALM BAY, Fla. -- After five days of a fighting fires that burned through 12,000 acres, all of the fires in Brevard and Volusia counties were nearly completely or mostly contained by Thursday night.
In a sign that the fire fight was settling down, the Red Cross announced it would shut down a shelter at Our Lady of Grace Church in Palm Bay at midnight Friday.
Over 100 people slept at the shelter Monday night, terrified at what they might wake up to, but the shelter provided food and comfort as they prepared for their journey to recovery.
"We came in to get a hot meal. It's stress free, rather than look out a window and see burnt trees almost up to the house," said Christine Linn, a fire victim at the shelter.
Fire victims who need more help can contact the Space Coast chapter of the Red Cross, at (321) 890-1002.
Arson Suspect Appears In Court
The man suspected of starting one of the wildfires was denied bond by a Brevard County judge Thursday.
Brian Crowder appeared before the judge wearing protective clothing, handcuffs and shackles.
The suspect, who was charged Wednesday with intentional and unlawful burning of lands, has been being kept under suicide watch at the Brevard County Jail.
Crowder's attorneys initially sent him back to his cell, saying they were waiving their right to a first appearance, but when Judge David Silverman arrived, he ordered Crowder to come back and discuss his attorneys and bond possibilities.
The State Attorney's Office argued that Crowder was a "very serious threat to the community."
The judge, speaking via video-conferencing, agreed.
"I find that no amount of monetary bond would be sufficient to protect the community -- no bond on the VOPs, no bond on the new, substantive felony charges, leave the misdemeanors as scheduled," Silverman said.
Palm Bay police said they believe Crowder was responsible for at least one fire in the city, but other arsonists could still be on the loose.
Crowder was still "a prime suspect" in the larger fires throughout Brevard County, according to Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger.
Investigators said around 4:18 a.m. Wednesday, a witness noticed Crowder throwing a glass bottle with some kind of accelerant into the woods just seconds before a small fire broke out.
"I believe that I accidentally may have started [a fire] by tossing a cigarette out the door. I have a violation of probation. I have no driver’s license. I was driving," Crowder said.
Police said while Crowder was running away from them, he was trying to start even more fires.
Other Arson Suspects Considered
As firefighters entered their fifth day of battling the brush fires, Palm Bay police say a possible second suspect in the area's arsons had been cleared of any wrong-doing.
Berger said Thursday morning that police did detain someone Wednesday night behind the Knights of Columbus, where there was a fire. However, that person and his parents were questioned and it was determined that the person had been trying to put out a fire.
In addition, a Cocoa woman was arrested Thursday after allegedly trying to start a fire at her apartment complex.
Cocoa detectives say Margaret Kaderabek, 57, admitted to setting the small fires, stating "she was bored," and got the idea from watching stories about the brush fires on the news.
Kaderabek allegedly started a small fire behind the apartment building a little before 9 p.m. Wednesday. She told her husband about it, and called 911.
Kaderabek's husband put out the fire before the Cocoa Fire Department arrived.
According to the police report, a neighbor saw Kaderabek set three or four more small fires not long afterward -- at 3 a.m. Thursday.
Witnesses called Cocoa police, which lead to her arrest.
"You know, just a very nice lady, and I was just kind of shocked that it was her that was starting the fires around here," said Cici Long, a neighbor of Kaderabek.
"We just want everyone to know, we're going to send a message out that this is not going to be acceptable at all," said Cocoa police Detective Matt Turner.
Kaderabek faced two counts of intentional burning of land.
Investigators said they did not believe Kaderabek had anything to do with the massive fires set over the weekend.
Crowder's History
This has not been Crowder's first run-in with the law. He has a number of arrests on his record, including several convictions dating back to 1997 when he was sentenced on charges of grand theft and drugs. He was then convicted in 2001 for everything from trespassing to burglary to theft. He was later arrested and convicted of burglary and battery. This is his first arrest, though, for anything to do with fires.
Crowder has been wanted since October for felony violation of probation for failing to appear in court.
Fire Locations
To make it easy for you to find the latest information about fires in their areas, we have created individual pages for each area affected:
Fire Updates
The Division of Forestry has released the latest numbers from fires all across the state.:
- Wednesday 30 new wildfires started, bringing the total to 120 fires statewide.
- So far, 26,000 acres have burned in 11 counties.
- There are 58 state forestry firefighters around the state coordinating fighting the fires.
- There are 24 Florida National Guard personnel spread across the state to help.
Firefighters in Palm Bay had managed to get the brush fires 40 percent contained by Thursday morning and hoped to increase that number as the day wears on.
According to Todd Schroeder, of the Division of Forestry, there are four main fires burning in the Palm Bay and Malabar areas. Each fire is named after the street where the blaze started.
As of Thursday morning, the Jupiter Fire had destroyed 200 acres and firefighters were monitoring it for hotspots
In the Madden Fire, located near Bayside High School, 1,400 acres burned and fire crews are keeping an eye on it.
Fire crews continue to actively fight the Osage Fire, which has already burned through 3,700 acres.
The biggest blaze is the Lowery Fire, in which 7,000 acres have gone down in flames. Firefighters are actively fighting the fire and have also started a backfire to counteract the current fire.
All told, more than 12,000 acres have burned so far in Brevard and 162 homes were damaged or destroyed.
Many of the firefighters have been working 16-hour days as they tried to get the upper hand on the fires burning in the Palm Bay area, but crews got a break in fighting the flames Thursday, thanks to lower winds and higher humidity.
"It's going good. Everything we're trying to get done is getting done," said firefighter Ryan Mason.
Fire crews said they would continue to fight the fires and performed back burns to ward off the fire fuel, and get 100 percent containment on the fires.
Gov. Crist Tours The Damage
The fire fight has gone on so long that Gov. Charlie Crist has issued a state of emergency, and the state Emergency Operations Center geared up to send firefighters into Brevard County to replace crews that have been battling the blaze for more than 36 hours.
The governor said Central Florida would get all the help it needed to fight the fires -- from the state and federal levels.
Additional Information
Information is power, so we have collected some information and links to help you keep up with the latest on the brush fires and how to get help:
If you have any pictures of these fires, please e-mail them to special@cfnews13.com. Please include the photographer's name and where they were taken.
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