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Castle Fire in Kaibab National Forest Allowed to Grow to Reduce Forest Fuels

sharetheexperience.org

The Kaibab National Forest is planning to allow the lightning-caused Castle Fire on the North Kaibab Ranger District to continue growing within a defined area.

Officials said in a written statement the fire will be allowed to fulfill its natural role of reducing dense forest fuels and improving overall ecosystem health.

While currently only about an acre in size, fire managers expect the Castle Fire to grow quickly this week given anticipated dry and windy weather conditions. The fire is located about 11 miles south of Jacob Lake.  It was first discovered on July 12.

It’s burning in an area that has a significant amount of dead and down trees as well as heavy mixed conifer species.

While there is no planned end date for the wildfire, forest managers have established a planning area of about 12,000 acres within which it will be allowed to grow.

This does not mean that the wildfire will move across the entire planning area, as weather conditions and terrain will be large factors in long-term activity and growth.

The Castle Fire poses no danger to structures or other local infrastructure…but it may produce a lot of smoke.

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