Progress firefighters made on corralling the Dragon Bravo Fire at Grand Canyon National Park in recent days was expected to be challenged Friday by red flag weather conditions that could jeopardize the growing containment lines. On Thursday gusty winds forced firefighters on the blaze’s southwestern edge to retreat at times, and yet work elsewhere pushed containment to 36 percent of the 134,049-acre fire sparked by lightning on July 4.
On the Walhalla Plateau, which holds ruins of ancient populations, “Firefighters and heavy equipment operators worked to build a line against the slowly progressing fire in that area,” Friday morning’s briefing said. “At the north end of the fire, some interior pockets of unburned fuel threw up smoke, but the line held.”
Against that progress, the weather outlook Friday called for “high winds, high temperatures and low humidity. Wind gusts are expected to reach 40 mph,” the briefing noted. “The fire will continue to be very active. As embers are blown from the main fire, spot fires can occur up to a mile away. Winds will drop during the weekend, but low humidity will persist until the middle of next week.”
The firefighting efforts allowed the Kaibab National Forest just north of the national park on Friday to open most areas north of US-89A, including the Jacob Lake Campgrounds.
