<p>A three-day wildfire sparked by a lightning strike blackened more than 100 acres of the 3,000-acre Blackbeard Island National Wilderness Area off the Georgia coast about halfway between Savannah and Brunswick before it was contained, officials said.</p><p>Firefighters continued Wednesday to drop water on lingering flames from helicopters, said Shawn Gillette, a spokesman for the National Fish and Wildlife Service.</p><p>Because the fire was in a wilderness area, firefighters could not bring in the bulldozers and other heavy equipment that could have damaged the sensitive ecosystem, nor could they dowse the flames with chemical fire retardants, which could damage the marsh environment.</p><p>Instead, they had to battle it with hand tools and backfires at the boundaries of the wilderness area, Gillette said.</p><p>"It's definitely a different wildfire situation," he said. "It's a 35-minute trip from the coast to get there. We can't go in there. There are no roads. We're not even allowed to use retardants."</p><p>The wilderness area is part of the 5,618-acre Blackbeard National Wildlife Refuge, which has maritime forest, salt marsh, freshwater marsh and beach habitat.</p><p>Blackbeard Island was acquired by the Navy Department at public auction in 1800 as a source of live oak timber for ship building. A presidential proclamation in 1940 changed its designation from Blackbeard Island Reservation to Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge.</p><p>Dry weather and high temperatures have increased the wildfire risk in many parts of Georgia.</p><p>The island fire was believed to have started Thursday. It wasn't noticed until Saturday and wasn't considered contained until Sunday evening, officials said.</p><p>"Fire is a normal part of the islands ecology," said refuge biologist Deb Bernard. "The fact that we are not sending in bulldozers and bombarding the area with fire retardants means that the burned areas will recover naturally."</p><p>Bernard added, "Fire rids the area of choking ground vegetation, dead woody debris and other hazardous fuels, and it will increase forage for many wildlife species. In the long run, this wildfire will be very beneficial to Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge."</p>
