PALM BAY, Fla. -- A veteran fire inspector said he was stunned after seeing some of the 100 homes gutted or damaged by brush fires in Central Florida.

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"I never expected this, when we got out here, to see these total burnouts," Palm Bay fire inspector Mike Havener said. "I didn't really expect this at all. It is just amazing."

Havener is part of five, two-man teams checking damage Tuesday after brush fires burned through the area.

Like a tornado, flames burned some homes to the ground but did not damage other homes on the same street in Palm Bay neighborhoods.

Havener found burned-out recreational vehicles and other unreported burned structures while assessing the damage.

Damage estimates are reaching millions of dollars, Local 6's Todd Jurkowski said.

Extreme Conditions Continue

Firefighters in Central Florida still face some of the most extreme conditions in 20 years, an official said Tuesday.

"We are very early in the fire season," Asst. Fire Chief Jim Staples said. "For those of you who remember 1998, we went through the Fourth of July, in fact, we had to cancel many of the events of Fourth of July. And here we are early in May, and we are facing some of the most extreme fire conditions that I've seen in my 20-plus years in this fire service."

Fires continued to flare up early Tuesday, forcing authorities to keep a 34-mile stretch of Interstate 95 closed from U.S. 192 to Indian River County. I-95 was reopened to traffic at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday but was again closed Tuesday afternoon.

All Palm Bay schools were closed Tuesday.

Good Samaritans Save Homes

Meanwhile, groups of strangers with shovels and buckets have been helping overwhelmed firefighters save homes in the path of wind-whipped brush fires.

As the fires began to spread, groups of men and women formed to help people they didn’t know.

"I can’t sit by and watch," resident Matt Call said. "I can’t evacuate and run away. I have to step up."

Call and Robert Johnson were part of a group running to fire lines to help strangers.

"If it makes a difference of me saving one of my neighbors' homes by staying here and helping then I stay here and fight," Call said.

"If this house goes, then it is going to jump to the next house and then the next house and then eventually to mine," Johnson said.

The group of men and women were forced to use shovels and buckets of water carried from other locations because water was shut off at homes near flames.

Fires Worse Than Hurricane

Some homeowners who have been awake for days said the fires are worse than any Florida hurricane.

"For a hurricane you can prepare but for a fire, you can't prepare," evacuee Ellen Fritz said.

"The one thing we can hold on to is that we haven't had injured civilians and we haven't had any fatalities with this," Staples said.

Arsonist Set 9 Fires In Palm Bay

Meanwhile, police believe a large portion of the fires in Palm Bay are linked to arson.

A $10,000 reward was offered for information on suspicious activity concerning the fires.

Anyone with information concerning the fires is urged to call the Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.

State Of Emergency Declared

Also, Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in Brevard and Volusia counties Monday. He also planned to tour the damage Tuesday, Local 6 has learned.

Crist’s declaration allows Florida to tap federal funds and the National Guard.

The declaration also brings local emergency workers under state control and allows Florida to call on other states for help, if necessary.

In addition, the mayor of Palm Bay and Brevard County officials have declared states of emergency.

Daytona Fire 55 Percent Contained

According to the Division of Forestry, an 800-acre brush fire in Daytona Beach was 55 percent contained.

There have been flare-ups on both sides of LPGA Boulevard, inside the LPGA International subdivision and behind the Bayberry Lakes subdivision, officials said.

Fire crews were able to cut additional fire lines around the fire before the weather conditions deteriorated.

The evacuation of the LPGA International subdivision was lifted on Tuesday and residents were allowed back in their homes.

The City of Daytona Beach set up a hotline for information about the brush fires. The number is 386-671-5347.

Also, a new shelter was opened at the Central Baptist Church, 2503 Country Club Road, Melbourne. The shelter at Our Lady of the Lords remains open.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.