PALM BAY, Fla. -- A newly formed 15-person arson task force is checking 100 leads in the hunt for one "trophy" arsonist who may be responsible for sparking a series of 11 wildfires in Central Florida, according to the Palm Bay police chief.

"I believe this person is a trophy person," Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger said. "He is going to talk to somebody."

More than 160 Central Florida homes have been damaged or destroyed by brush fires that swept through Brevard County and caused nearly $10 million in damages in Palm Bay.

Investigators said there were 11 different suspicious fires in Palm Bay in two days.

"We strongly believe this individual may have started several of those (fires) the first day," Berger said. "(The fires) started occurring around 3 p.m. and then went into late evening until 11 or midnight."

The fires have prompted more than 2,000 calls and 100 leads for investigators.

"We are following up on each one," Berger said. "No matter how inconsequential a person may think, please give us an opportunity to follow up that lead."

Berger said the ongoing investigation has been difficult.

"With mass arson like this versus a building, forensically it is difficult," Berger said.

Berger also said there may be copy cat arsonists involved in recent fires.

"A lot of these copy cats think this is a neat thing to do and try to go ahead and create these copy-cat type fires," Berger said. "I'm not saying that happened but there is a high probability based on national averages that that may have occurred because of the number of fires."

A reward for information in the case was upped to $15,000.

The new arson task force consists of local, state and federal officers.

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