The Dragon Bravo Fire continued to grow Tuesday, as low humidity, dry terrain and wind gusts stymie firefighter efforts. More than 71,000 acres have burned along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, and the blaze now only 9% contained.
The fire increased more than 16,000 acres in a single day.
Fire team spokesman James Ray says no new evacuations are expected, as the bulk of new fire activity is moving northeast through wilderness. But a team is protecting the Kaibab Lodge.
“For the most part the fire is to the east of that lodge. It’s not completely out of the woods yet. We do have fire just south of it that is creeping in the Canyon," Ray said.
Ray says the fire continues to grow overnight.
“So typically at night the RHs or the moisture at night goes up. And we’ve had these really historically dry conditions where we haven’t had good moisture recoveries at night and the fire’s been burning actively," Ray said.
He also says crews are trying to steer the fire east of State Route 67 and bring it back towards the Rim. Though he says to expect more fire growth the next few days without weather cooperation.
U.S. Route 89A has reopened. Around 1,000 personnel are working on the fire.
