The Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has grown to nearly 112,000 acres and is 8% contained.
But officials are hopeful that increased cloud cover, less-dry conditions and possible isolated thunderstorms could help them turn the corner.
Fire managers say they’ll take advantage of improved weather and higher humidity to be more aggressive as crews continue to battle one of the largest wildfires in the county.
Lisa Jennings is a spokesperson for the Complex Incident Management team and says, even as conditions improve, it’s an uphill battle.
“A good fire weather day for the Dragon Bravo fire is a bad fire weather day for every other fire. So, we have to keep that in perspective. Conditions are a lot better than they have been, but they're still historically dry," Jennings says.
Jennings says most of the fire’s recent growth has been on the northern edge, but crews are also reinforcing its southwest side, where they worry the blaze could again move off the rim and into Bright Angel Canyon.
“We've already had several water drops and are working through some retardant drops in that area to keep it in check as our firefighters come directly on that fire line and work to install containment lines," Jennings says.
Firefighters were able to backburn and reduce fuel around some structures on the North Rim last night when fire activity was more subdued.
Nearly 1,200 personnel are now fighting the blaze.
