Downpour douses Grand Bature wildfire | Biloxi Sun Herald

PASCAGOULA -- Monday's rainstorm knocked down the wildfire in east Jackson County and Alabama, stopping it at roughly 4,450 acres burned.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said early Tuesday the fire was considered 60 percent contained, but that percentage was expected to increase by the end of the day.

There were still 67 firefighters from several agencies on the job Tuesday morning, but that number was expected to be half that by the end of the day, "since everything seems to be wrapping up."

Bayou Heron Road is open again to the people who live on it and to the business and boat launch at the end.

Fish and Wildlife officers were to remain in the area Tuesday, the spokeswoman said, to help with fallen trees and to help clean roads.

She said the area of the fire, which was south of U.S. 90 in the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge and near the National Estuarine Research Reserve, received an inch of rain during Monday's late afternoon and evening storm.

The fire began Thursday and was difficult to contain because it burned in remote marshes and on property with thick undergrowth. With high winds over the weekend, it grew from 400 acres to 4,000 acres within three days.