Better weather conditions have helped slow recent growth on the Dragon Bravo Fire.
Containment on the 144,000-acre blaze stands at 44%.
For nearly a month, fire crews have faced near-record heat and dry conditions on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest.
Matthew Garcia, with the complex incident management team, says that’s starting to change.
"Low wind, high humidity, lower temperatures and chances of precipitation," Garcia says. "That’ll help moderate fire behavior overnight and allow crews to work the fire."
He says they’re using drones to search for hotspots on the fire's southwestern edge which they then target using aircraft.
That has allowed crews on the ground to be more aggressive.
“It seems like we're starting to get more of a foothold, we're starting to turn a corner. We're definitely increasing containment," Garcia says. "And I think we're still continuing to go into that direction of increased containment.”
They’re building new western fire lines to protect the remote north rim overlook of Point Sublime.
On the southeast side, aircraft are also working to stop the fire from burning back up the canyon, after it came within a mile of the Colorado River.
