Tuesday afternoon’s rain was just the respite firefighters were looking for as they look to take control of a wildfire in Gulf State Park.

“With the rain, it helped us a lot,” Orange Beach Fire Chief Forney Howard said. “It got a lot of our edges wet and that’s helped us out. I think they are trying to back burn again this afternoon. Looks like they are trying to get it done. Hopefully we can wrap this up soon.”

According to Deputy Fire Chief Keith Martin, the rain shower this morning was a welcomed blessing; however, it has slowed the progress of the controlled burn on the western portion of the Gulf State Park near the campground. Officials report that this area of fire is controlled and contained. They hope to resume the controlled burn when favorable conditions return this afternoon or early tomorrow morning.

Howard says progress was definitely made on Tuesday.

“We’re holding our own, we’ve had a good day today,” Orange Beach Fire Chief Forney said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been working the edges, mopping up hot spots, the worst hot spots like stumps and logs. We’re chainsawing and cutting in and getting the fire out.

Late Monday evening a state of emergency was declared by Gov. Robert Bentley which will enable the state to receive more assistance from the state.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft received a call from the governor's office late in the afternoon promising two helicopters, a Blackhawk with a 750-gallon bucket and a chinook with a 2,000-gallon bucket, to drop more water on the blaze.

The fire produced a few flare-ups Monday night, but overall it was uneventful. Some rain Tuesday morning hampered the building of back burn fires, but fire officials weren't complaining.

The governor encouraged those with travel plans for the beach for the holiday weekend to come on down.

"Local officials are working around the clock to contain this fire, and I am hopeful they will be successful,” Bentley said in a news release. “The fires have not affected the beaches of Gulf Shores or Orange Beach.

"I want to encourage people who have plans to travel to the Gulf for the upcoming holiday to continue with their vacation plans.”

The current State Trooper helicopter being used can only deliver a 350-gallon load.

The state gave no timeline for the arrival of the aircraft, Craft said. It was also reported that helicopters from the Mississippi National Guard were on their way to join the battle against the wildfire.

"I could not get a confirmation as to the estimated time that these assets will be here, but they are absolutely on the way," Craft said.

Howard said he saw the helicopter come in and was told it was at the airport.

Wind has kept firefighters scrambling to stay in front of break out fires since the blaze erupted on Saturday afternoon.

"The wind’s not cooperating," Howard said late Monday. "That’s our biggest problem. We were going to do some back burns, but we can’t do it in this wind.

"The weather bureau, when had our meeting (Monday) morning, said it would be five to eight mph. You ever seen five to eight mph on the Gulf Coast?　 It’s 20 mph when we get up in the morning."

Sunday offered a prime example. In the early morning, it looked like crews had the fire on the run. By late Sunday afternoon crews were on the run tracking down flare-ups sparked by high winds.

　"We thought we had it," Howard said. "It just quit and then when the wind kicked up, it changed.

"That’s what happened over at the shop (Monday). This wind kicked up that leaf pile and put it in the trees at the shop again. We had to ask for a water drop over there."

Leaf and mulch piles are particularly worrisome for firefighters.

"Those are terribly hard to put out," Howard said. "If you’ve got leaves and mulch piled high, you put it out here and it’ll come up over there 20 feet away. Forestry brought us a sprinkler system and we’re going to set it up down there."

Also on Monday, an ember ignited a new blaze in the woods near Lauder Lane, an area south of Canal Road near Coco Island furniture store.

"We called the helicopter and he put it out," Forney said.

Howard said he hopes get most of the fires extinguished, and the smoked minimized, in time for the holiday weekend.

"What we do down here is tourism," he said. "We care about our citizens also, but what we have – the equipment and facilities – we’re looking toward the weekend. We want to manage this and get it somewhere when the people come to visit, they won’t smell so much smoke."

Howard said his crews will be out in the woods for at least a week keeping an eye out for possible flare-ups.

"We are continuing to stay ahead of the fire with fire lines," he said. "We’ve gone all the way down to Azalea and Beaver Creek cutting fire lines. So if forestry and Gulf Shores can’t keep up from coming up over that hill, we’re ready. We’re looking ahead.

"Right now you could say we’re containing, our crews are out containing all he hot spots here. It’s getting old (for the crews). Working at the fire station for a day, coming over here for a day and then going home for a day. We’ve been doing that for three days."

Overnight Sunday and most of Monday was a much better day for the crews.

　"The wind died down a little and we had a fairly easy night," Howard said. "We went out about every two hours doing our rotation. We’re going to be out here for a minimum of a week. We’ll have a crew out here for a while hitting hot spots. Us and Gulf Shores, too, we’ll be doing the same thing. Even if it’s coming from the station, doing the perimeter and then going back.　 We’ll be out here at least a week."