FREDONIA, Ariz. – A steady stream of tourists drove to the Grand Canyon's North Rim yesterday after a highway closure prompted by a 58,600-acre wildfire was lifted.
Also yesterday, federal officials forecasted that above-normal temperatures this summer will boost the potential for wildfires across the West, where thousands of acres already have been scorched this year.
The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park was closed last week after the fire jumped the only paved highway leading to the remote area. Hundreds of tourists were marooned briefly at the park's lodge, cabins and campground, although the fire was about 25 miles north of the rim. The more popular South Rim was not affected.
The area in northern Arizona was reopened yesterday after rain and higher humidity helped crews build a line completely around the fire.
“If we had not gotten the weather when we did, it would have probably been a larger fire,” said Jacki Denk, a spokesman for the team fighting the blaze.
The fire, in the Kaibab National Forest, was 70 percent contained yesterday. It was discovered June 8 after lightning struck the area.
In southwestern Utah, a complex of wildfires had consumed nearly 42,000 acres by yesterday. Crews, aided by the cooler, more humid weather in the region, were working to contain the blazes.
At least one new lightning-sparked fire was reported in Utah and another in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada.
Late Sunday, a single-engine air tanker landed on a dirt road near the Mesquite, Nev., airport after losing power on its return from fighting the Utah fires, federal officials said. The pilot, the only person on board, escaped injury.
Federal land management agencies reported yesterday that July is considered a critical month for the fire season in the interior West. If the region continues to be hot and dry, the growth of grassy vegetation from two successive moist springs could dry out quickly and create the potential for large, fast-moving range fires.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, reported 321 new fires across the U.S. yesterday. There were eight large fires in Arizona, seven in California, four in Utah and two each in Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico. A fire is classified as “large” if it burns more than 100 acres of timber or 300 acres of grass. The weather outlook through mid-August calls for higher-than-normal temperatures in the western United States.
