The trail leading to one of Arkansas' most scenic overlooks is scheduled to reopen today after being closed since Friday because of a wildfire in the valley below.
The trail to Whitaker Point in Newton County is being reopened as firefighters near containment of an 88-acre fire burning in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area, according to a news release from the U.S. Forest Service. The fire, which started Nov. 12, remained 50 percent contained Wednesday.
Whitaker Point, also known as Hawksbill Crag, is one of the most popular sites in the Ozark Mountains for hikers and photographers.
Rainfall on Tuesday helped firefighters working to contain the fire, according to the release from C.J. Norvell, a spokesman for the Forest Service.
"We received almost an inch of rain," incident commander Mike Haisten said. "That's not a lot, but I assure you that every drop is appreciated and has helped to slow down the fire in the areas where we're most concerned."
With the rain came higher humidity and a decrease in fire intensity.
Firefighters will be stationed at the trail head for several days to remind visitors to stay on the trail and away from the bluff edges, where they might be tempted to look at the fire below, according to the release.
Firefighters will monitor the fire as it nears containment lines and will work to ensure that leaves that are blanketing the forest floor don't provide an avenue for the fire to cross those lines, according to the release.
The cause of the fire has been determined to be an unattended or improperly extinguished campfire, according to the Forest Service. The punishment for leaving such a campfire can include a fine and having to pay the cost of damage and the wildfire suppression efforts.
Wildfires proliferated in Arkansas last week because of dry and windy conditions, but since then rainfall has extinguished most of them.
Adriane Barnes, a spokesman for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, said it had no active wildfires reported as of Wednesday afternoon on public or private land in Arkansas. That doesn't include federal land.
Norvell said his agency still had two fires burning Wednesday on U.S. Forest Service land -- the Whitaker Point wildfire and the Mountain Creek wildfire northeast of Cass in Franklin County. That fire had burned 480 acres as of Wednesday. It was contained, but leaf fall over the weekend reignited, Norvell said.
Half of Arkansas' 75 counties were under burn bans Tuesday, but the number of counties with burn bans had dropped to 19 by Wednesday afternoon, according to the commission.
Metro on 11/24/2016