Fire officials told community members in northern Arizona on Wednesday that intensely dry conditions and strong winds are making the Dragon Bravo Fire on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim hard to manage.
The fire has burned an area nearly the size of Tucson at more than 200 square miles. Officials compared the dryness of trees in the fire’s path to that of the two-by-fours you buy at Home Depot. And they warned that high level particle smoke is putting residents at risk. Then there’s the lack of water.
John Truett is the fire’s incident commander.
"Right now we have almost 50 water tenders, you know the big water trucks, trying to shuttle water to keep up with the demand," he said.
Truett said a pipeline from the Roaring Springs Pumphouse was damaged by the fire so water is being trucked in.
"Now we’re going up to Lees Ferry, all the way up to Fredonia to bring water up," he said.
Local springs, as well, aren't recharging fast enough to help.
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The social media world of influencers promoting the great outdoors is vast. They camp, they hike — and they make it all look idyllic on Instagram. Lauren and Owen Steinwall certainly do all of that. But, they also are willing to show the not-so-glamorous side of the outdoors in Arizona. -
For the first time, the United States Forest Service authorized the use of N95 respirators for federal wildland firefighters. -
As wildfires are burning across the country, Flagstaff officials are looking to prevent catastrophic damage from happening here. How do they do it? By cutting down trees. A lot of them. -
Thompson says the closure is scheduled to continue through the end of September. The Pocket Fire has burned more than 27,000 acres. -
Four firefighters died fighting a fire in western Mesa County in late June.
