Firefighters continued battling a large wildfire in Union County late Friday as aircraft, helicopters and bulldozers worked to contain the blaze and officials monitored increasing winds.
Union County Judge Mike Loftin said Friday that the fire was still burning and adding acreage, with crews estimating it was about 50% contained.
"We are still burning and adding acreage. We have two planes and two Black Hawk helicopters dumping water. We believe we are about 50% contained. The dozers are still working to cut fire breaks around this thing. We will continue to work and monitor the situation throughout the night.
"The wind is picking up this afternoon so this could be another long night for the guys with Arkansas Forestry and all our local first responders. Please keep us all in your prayers."
More than 2,100 acres had burned in wildfires near El Dorado and that no injuries had been reported., officials said.
About 150 people had been evacuated to shelters in Lawson and El Dorado as of Friday, according to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
Ten bulldozers were working the fire, with replacement crews arriving from other parts of the state. Agriculture Department wildfire crew members who had worked overnight also remained at the scene.
The Agriculture Department deployed two single-engine air tankers, each with a 750-gallon capacity. Aircraft that had been expected to assist with the fire were grounded in Malvern on Thursday night because of bad weather.
The Arkansas National Guard also deployed two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets to assist the Agriculture Department's Forestry Division. Each helicopter has a 600-gallon capacity.
The helicopters left Camp Robinson in North Little Rock about 12:30 p.m. Friday. Six pilots and six crew chiefs were supporting the mission, and the helicopters were requested for two days, according to the National Guard.
Additional residents were evacuated Friday afternoon, and more bulldozers were assigned to the fire, according to the governor's office. An Arkansas Division of Emergency Management area coordinator also was on site working with local officials.
Entergy de-energized power lines in the area as crews worked to improve containment, according to the Agriculture Department.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfires and authorized $250,000 from the Governor's Disaster Response and Recovery Fund for use by the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.
The state also applied for and received federal assistance.
Union County remains under a burn ban as dry conditions continue to elevate wildfire risk across Arkansas. Nearly all of the state's 75 counties were under burn bans this week, and the entire state was classified as being at moderate or high wildfire danger.
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture said 50 counties were at moderate wildfire danger and 25, concentrated in central and southern Arkansas, were at high wildfire danger. The department defines high danger as conditions in which fires "ignite easily and spread quickly."
Prolonged drought and dry vegetation have contributed to the increased risk. More than 1,000 wildfires have burned more than 27,000 acres in Arkansas so far in 2026, according to an online wildfire dashboard launched by the Agriculture Department this week.
In neighboring Ashley County, officials said a separate wildfire that burned about 100 acres had been contained.
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