Police say they've arrested a man who was seen sparking a small blaze in a town on Florida's Atlantic coast where wildfires have gutted homes. Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger says 31-year-old Brian Crowder threw a glass bottle containing an accelerant into the woods early Wednesday.

Berger says officers tracked Crowder through the woods with the help of residents who spotted him running past their homes. Crowder has been charged with six probation violations and authorities are waiting to question him about the wildfires that have ravaged Brevard County since the weekend.

The fires have burned or damaged more than 170 homes in Palm Bay and neighboring Malabar and scorched an area of roughly 15 square miles, resulting in damages estimated at $10 million. According to firefighters, the blaze quieted down overnight and a section of Interstate 95 in Brevard and Indian River counties reopened on Wednesday morning according to the Florida Highway. However, reports stated that Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue District Chief Don Bouse, said there were strong gusts and fire fighters were still expecting to be busy. Bouse was among 20 firefighters sent from Palm Beach County.

It was also reported that Plantation Fire spokesman Joel Gordon said on Wednesday that Broward County was prepared to send a team of five engines and about 20 people to Central Florida if they're needed.

Much of the state, including parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, remained under a "red flag alert" advisory, according to weather service meteorologists. Although up to press time no brush fires were reported in Broward County as of Tuesday evening, in Palm Beach, fire continued burning across 8,600 acres of Lake Okeechobee's southwestern edge. That fire may have been started by arsonists, state forestry officials said.