Firefighters have contained a large wildfire that has been burning since Sunday at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area in Benton County.
Fred Sutton, a park ranger, said the fire had burned about 200 acres within a containment zone established Wednesday. He said all but a few of those acres were within the state park.
"We controlled the wildfire with fire," said Sutton. "This is actually an area that we were going to burn later this year, but it wasn't ready. So this is not a horrible thing. This is an area we have burned in the past."
Sutton said downed limbs and trees from a 2009 ice storm were still on the ground. Combined with leaf litter, the wood provided fuel for the fire.
The boundaries of the containment area were Shaddox Hollow Trail and Beaver Lake to the north, Arkansas 12 to the south, Arkansas 303 to the east and man-made fire lines to the west.