Fire officials met with residents Tuesday in Fredonia to explain the latest on the Dragon Bravo Fire burning on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim.
While the growing fire is now more than 130,000 acres, many residents expressed distrust and frustration with management efforts.
At the meeting, many residents said there is a lack of communication with the community. Some question decisions made in the early days of the blaze when the fire was left to burn.
Doug Ruppel with the U.S. Forest service says an After Action Review needs to be done, but he says in general, firefighters are not always able to address a fire right away.
“And that might be because we don’t have the resources, it might be because it’s extremely remote, it might be because it’s extremely dangerous for the fire fighters to get right there next to it," Ruppel said.
"And so I don’t want to second guess what happened at that moment, that will come out in the AAR and again all I can do is ask you to be patient and continue to engage with the Forest Service and the park service as we go through that process."
For the last month, tough terrain, high winds and weather have hindered suppression efforts.
Ruppel says they’re using around 140,000 gallons of water on the fire a day.
