InciWeb photoAn aerial view of the fire in the Okefenokee Swamp.

FARGO — A mild rainfall Monday had little to no impact on the West Mims Fire burning through the Okefenokee Swamp, according to a firefighter.

The blaze, which had burned more than 100,000 acres by Tuesday afternoon, received about a tenth of an inch of rain from a weak cold front that moved through South Georgia Monday.

“It didn’t help,” said Leland Bass, a firefighter and public information officer for the Georgia Forestry Commission.

What little rain fell was measured about two miles north of the Eddy fire tower on the state line, he said.

High temperatures and low humidities are helping fuel the blaze, which was started by a lightning strike, he said.

The National Weather Service predicts a 60 percent chance of thundershowers Thursday in the area around Fargo, at the edge of both the swamp and the fire. Bass said if it doesn’t rain then, forecasters don’t see another chance of rain for at least a week.

The number of firefighters battling the blaze Tuesday was 468, down from more than 500, according to a statement from the Okefenokee National Wildfire Refuge. Bass said the number of personnel fluctuates, especially when some have to leave and replacements haven’t arrived yet.

The main entrance to the refuge near Folkston is closed, though a secondary entrance between Folkston and Waycross is still open. The Stephen C. Foster State Park, located entirely within the refuge, remains closed.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.