North Rim Grand Canyon - CLOSED

[Bob]

Dragon Bravo fire, 5000 ac, has burned thru the the North Rim developed area. Rumor is the lodge and other buildings burned. and the White Sage fire, 40000 ac, has closed the road from Fredonia to Jacobs Lk.

 

[canadug]

So very sad!!
From news sources, " The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost. Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim, known as the White Sage Fire and the Dragon Bravo Fire. The latter is the one that impacted the lodge and other structures. The park initially was managing it as a controlled burn but then shifted to suppression as it rapidly grew to 7.8 square miles because of hot temperatures, low humidity and wind, fire officials said." Hard to always trust news sources but does this mean a controlled burn got out of control?

 

[Bob]

Both were started by lightning

 

[futurafree]

Is that essentially every structure inside the NP on the North Rim, gone?

 

[Bob]

Info is not complete...... no real "official" announcement of exactly what

 

[fossana]

We've been watching the Forsyth Fire above our town. For those interested in N Rim (or other) fire details, recommend the Watch Duty app, which uses incident management retirees/volunteers to curate public agency incident response feeds, and the feds' AirNow map with daily NOAA satellite spot fire data. You can also download the satellite data here if you want to map it yourself to track the spread and to see which of your favorite trails are impacted.

 

[zionsky]

Very sad. Stayed there several times over the years. The north rim lodge (and surrounding cabins) all sit on a tiny finger plateau probably not more than a half mile wide so I imagine it would be almost impossible for anything to survive

 

[LarryBoy]

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is in a similar boat. I believe crews have managed to save the Visitors Center, but it looks like most of the frontcountry (South Rim) has burned.

 

[fossana]

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is in a similar boat. I believe crews have managed to save the Visitors Center, but it looks like most of the frontcountry (South Rim) has burned.

I think the current policy, given available staffing/funding and fire science, is to attempt to contain the border where reasonable and if possible preserve public and private structures. USFS also has a watershed protection charter, but that's often not possible with a large, fast-moving fire.