Fires sear 1,700 acres in 3 days

4 blazes mostly contained near Buffalo National River

At least four wildfires were burning Tuesday afternoon in or near the Buffalo National River, scorching more than 1,700 acres since Sunday.

The fires consisted of two in Marion County and two in Searcy County. A fifth fire had been reported in Searcy County but was not yet located, said Caven Clark, a spokesman for the Buffalo National River.

The located fires had been contained by Tuesday, except for the "Blue Ribbon" fire near Gilbert in Searcy County, Clark said.

That fire, which consumed 700 acres since Sunday, was threatening some structures but no homes, he said. Clark said the fire, which is outside the park boundary, was named after Blue Ribbon Road.

Clark said 21 National Park Service firefighters were working to contain the fires Tuesday, along with firefighters from other agencies, including the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

By midday Tuesday, the two fires in Marion County had burned 975 acres, and the two fires in Searcy County had consumed 773 acres, Clark said.

The largest of the fires began Sunday in an area of the Lower Buffalo Wilderness known as the "duckhead" because that's what it resembles when looking at a map. That fire was limited to its 800-acre containment zone Tuesday, Clark said.

"It's burning itself out," he said.

The closure of the the entire 2,687-acre "duckhead" portion of the Lower Buffalo Wilderness remained in effect Tuesday.

Besides the Blue Ribbon and duckhead fires, the others are:

• The "Baker's Dozen" fire near Tomahawk Creek in Searcy County, which was reported Sunday and was contained Tuesday within 80 acres.

• A fire reported Monday in the Toney Bend area of Marion County. The 175-acre fire threatened some homes Monday but was fully contained by Tuesday, Clark said.

The unlocated fire reported in Searcy County was believed to be between Tyler Bend and Richland Valley.

Clark said the cause of each fire will be investigated.

"In light of the fact that there have been no lightning strikes, it boils down to accidental starts or arson," he said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was a particularly active time for wildfires in Arkansas. The Arkansas Forestry Commission reported that 86 wildfires burned 1,322 acres over the three-day weekend.

Adriane Barnes, a spokesman for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, said there are 19 million acres of forested land in Arkansas, and the commission directly responds to fires in the 12 million acres of publicly and privately owned lands outside of state, corporate and federally owned property.

Commission firefighters also assist other agencies, so the fires mentioned by Clark may be in the 86 total fires for the weekend reported by the commission, Barnes said.

Baxter, Faulkner, Izard, Marion, Pulaski and Searcy counties had wildfires that burned more than 100 acres, Barnes said. Two homes were lost in Grant County.

Barnes said wildfire activity increases with warm weather, high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation, which was the case over the weekend. She urged people to take care when burning leaves, trash, cropland and managed forest areas.

By Tuesday, wildfire activity on Forestry Commission lands had decreased considerably, as wind gusts reached only 6 mph and humidity was about 40 percent.

Barnes said five wildfires that included 273 acres began late Monday in Marion and Baxter counties were extinguished Tuesday. The only active fire the commission reported Tuesday was in Searcy County and appeared to be one of the fires mentioned by Clark.

Barnes said a burn ban had been implemented for Carroll County, and many east Arkansas counties have been placed under moderate fire danger alert. However, humidity levels were predicted to rise today, she said.

Joe Jacobs, a spokesman for Arkansas State Parks, said there were small fires in some parks over the weekend, but no activity had been reported Tuesday.

"They were so small; it didn't take any time to take care of them," Jacobs said.

Metro on 01/21/2015

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