PALM BAY, Fla. -- Nearly 20 wildfires described by homeowners as worse than any hurricane have scorched 7,000 acres of land in Central Florida and destroyed or damaged 100 homes, officials said.

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Entire neighborhoods remained evacuated in the area early Tuesday, with the worst-hit areas located near Bayside High School. An evacuation of about 200 homes located near Bayside High School was ordered after fires flared up Monday.

Firefighters 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 at about 10:30 a.m.

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.

30-Foot Flames Spotted

In Cocoa, 30-foot-high flames threatened more than 100 homes during a 250-acre fire, prompting several evacuations.

"I got knots in my stomach," fire victim Pam Hales said. "My daughter cooked Mother's Day dinner and we have not been able to eat it. We tried to eat, but nobody could eat."

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.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.