HAMPTON, Fla. (AP) -- A swamp wildfire in northern Florida continued to burn out of control early Thursday, while a forest fire in New Mexico was almost half contained.
Firefighters worked throughout the night to hold the Florida blaze. By late Wednesday, the fire had consumed 5,000 acres near Hampton, about 50 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
About 500 people who lived on the perimeter of the swamp were evacuated earlier in the evening but were allowed to return home after about four-tenths of an inch of rain helped dampen the flames.
``The rain has helped, (but) it didn't take care of the fire,'' said Nelson Green, director of the Bradford County Department of Emergency Services. ``It's going to be smoky here for days.''
Fire officials considered thunderstorms predicted for Thursday afternoon to be a mixed blessing. Rain would help extinguish the flames but lightning could easily start more wildfires in what a state forestry spokesman described as a ``bone-dry'' swamp.
The New Mexico fire had burned about 38,000 acres near Capitan, in the south-central part of the state, and was 45 percent contained as of Wednesday night. The lightning-sparked fire, reported May 15, initially crept along the ground before exploding May 23. It jumped containment lines Tuesday.
The fire has destroyed a dozen cabins that were built in Lincoln National Forest but were leased by private citizens.
At an information meeting Wednesday night with fire officials, Capitan area residents and cabin owners criticized the U.S. Forest Service's effort to fight the blaze.
``It was done and over with. No homes would have been lost. Who dropped the ball and why?'' Corina Sedillo asked during the meeting attended by about 100 people.
Forest Ranger Buck Sanchez said the area was too rough and hazardous to safely deploy firefighters.
Don Hudson, who lost a cabin in the fire, said he's heard ``nothing but lies'' from the Forest Service.
Many cabin owners allege they were told the cabins were being protected by engines and sprayed with a fire retardant foam.
The fire was not threatening structures, but crews went into areas to the northwest, talking to residents, mapping what's there, doing thinning work around buildings and checking where new containment lines might be built, fire information officer Beth Wilson said.
Crews also continued building defense lines on the fire's south, east and west flanks.
Fire incident commander Pruitt Small told the crowd that the plan is to slowly coax the fire down the ridge and let it burn out.
In another north Florida blaze, more than 100 firefighters in the remote John Bethea State Forest, north of Baxter near the Georgia border, gained ground on a blaze covering nearly 3,000 acres. The fire was 85 percent contained with the help of additional rain Wednesday.
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