Progress made on Fla. wildfire

Firefighters were making progress on containing a wildfire along the Georgia-Florida border that had jumped a containment line, authorities said Tuesday.

Flames roared 50 feet into the air as helicopters and air tankers dropped water and fire retardant three times to help cool the inferno.

"We do believe we have the resources in place to control the fire," said Jim Caldwell, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

The flames jumped containment lines three times Monday as brisk winds, low humidity and high temperatures made work difficult for an army of firefighters. But on each occasion, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blazes. There were no reports during the day Tuesday of fires jumping containment lines.

The fire was raging through the Asocial National Forest and heading toward Lake City.

While fire activity was up Tuesday, most of it was in the center of the forest, far away from containment lines, said Annaleasa Winter, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Forestry.

Harvey Campbell, a spokesman for Baker County, said 725 residences had been evacuated on both sides of U.S. 441.

Ashsah Dees, 34, and her 9-year-old daughter, Meagan, were among those forced from their homes.

"I live in the middle of the Osecola National Forest. It could come at my house from any direction," she said. "You bet I'm worried."

More evacuations may be necessary if the fire continues creeping west, officials said.

The wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into northern Florida was started by lightning more than a week ago. By Tuesday, it had burned nearly 390 square miles.

On the western edge of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, Fargo residents were told to stay alert as winds forecast at up to 20 mph pushed the blaze against fire breaks plowed between the swamp and the city of 380 people.

"Everybody's being told not to let their guard down, don't unpack," said Laura Polant, a fire information officer in Fargo. "Residents are still being told to be prepared to leave, because the call can come at any time."

Another large wildfire, in northeastern Minnesota and Ontario, could be brought under control by the end of the week, officials said. No one has been seriously hurt in the fire, which has burned 117 square miles of Minnesota and Canada, but many cabins and smaller structures _ more than 100 in all _ have been destroyed.

At the border of Ocean and Burlington counties in central New Jersey, several highways were closed and homes were being threatened by a wildfire that had consumed more than 2,500 acres of brush and pine forest. At least six mobile homes were damaged, and neighborhoods in Barnegat and Stafford townships were being evacuated.

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Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.