The Lochloosa West Fire east of Micanopy has now burned 956 acres and is 50% contained as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to a Florida Forest Service – Waccasassa Forestry Center release, crews continue to fight the fire as they conducted burnout operations on Monday and Tuesday night to set fire to areas of unburned fuel (vegetation) when the humidity is up and winds are down in an effort to reduce the potential of the fire burning into those areas during the windier and drier parts of the daytime hours, which could potentially lead to erratic fire behavior.
Ash reportedly fell in areas of Waldo and East Gainesville on Tuesday night.
Helicopters continue to drop water in areas containing heat and smoke from the fire; depending on the southwest winds, this could impact areas northeast of the fire.
The US National Weather Service Jacksonville issued a red flag warning in effect until 8 p.m. on Thursday for low humidity, high temperatures and high winds for Putnam and eastern Marion County.