1000-acre Gulf State Park fire close to contained, officials say

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- While smoke still rolled over areas of Orange Beach on Thursday, firefighters said they hoped that the blaze that had consumed about 1,000 acres of the Alabama Gulf State Park would remain contained and start to burn itself out.
On Thursday, Orange Beach fire trucks waited in 2 subdivisions along Canal Road while the wildfire continued to burn for the sixth day, pushing toward containment lines set up to the south of the homes, Orange Beach Fire Chief Forney Howard said.
“We’ve got helicopters in the air dropping water, keeping the north side of the (Gulf Ridge) trail saturated off of Orange Beach,” Howard said. “We’ve got engines stationed up in the Beaver and Azalea subdivisions, got several tractors up there and probably 5 brush trucks on the trail watching for any breaks.”
Howard said no residents have been evacuated and unless conditions changed, he did not see the need for anyone to leave.
“We haven’t even come close to that yet,” Howard said. “We’ve just been patrolling the neighborhoods telling everybody what’s going on and to stay alert.”
Jerry Smith of the Alabama Forestry Commission said units were also in position along other areas of Canal Road near Orange Beach homes and businesses.
“We’ve got bulldozers over there and personnel watching for embers because the wind is blowing in that direction because even though that’s more than a quarter-mile away from the fire we’re monitoring that area very closely,” Smith said.
As of Thursday, the fire had burned 798 acres in the park, while more than 267 were being intentionally burned to use up the fuel and keep the blaze from spreading, Smith said. He said fire officials hoped to have the controlled burns completed and that the blaze could then be contained and allowed to burn itself out.
“I’m hopeful that we will have everything burned out by midnight tonight,” he said Thursday afternoon. “If it goes according to plan, with no problems, then we’ll just be able to do cleanup of our perimeter lines thereafter and the Forestry Commission’s going to have personnel there 24 hours a day here until we feel it’s safe to leave it.”