Two wildfires burning near the Grand Canyon showed further signs of containment on July 26, according to state and federal officials.
Together, the pair of lightning-caused fires has scorched over 94,000 acres of national forest and destroyed historic structures on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The White Sage Fire spread across 58,985 acres of the northern Kaibab National Forest and was 81% contained, according to the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team 6.
The east-west route of State Route 89A from Bitter Springs to Fredonia had reopened to the public, but officials warned that smoke would still be visible from the freeway. Nearby State Route 67, which runs north-south from Jacob Lake to the developed area of the North Rim, remained closed, according to the Great Basin team.
On all but the difficult-to-access east side of the fire, crews have already planted seeds to restore the environment and repaired fences, according to the Great Basin team.
The Great Basin team planned to hand the fire over to the smaller Color Country Team 2, further signifying the fire was on a path toward total containment. Crews projected July 30 as the earliest possible date for total containment of the fire, according to InciWeb, a federal wildfire tracking system.
The nearby Jacob Lake Inn, which had temporarily closed due to the fire, reopened as of July 24, according to a Facebook post.
About 30 miles to the south on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Dragon Bravo Fire had grown to 35,456 acres and was 26% contained, according to the Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team 4.
Crews saw gusty winds increase fire activity on July 25, which spread the fire to the north and intensified the existing blaze on the west side, according to the management team.
The team said “record dry conditions” meant firefighters would need to reinforce perimeter lines and prepare for potential structure protection near the Kaibab Lodge, a complex of cabins about 5 miles north of the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park off SR 67. Aircraft were ready for an increase in fire activity, especially on the canyon edges, where the fire could spread into grass and sagebrush at lower elevations, according to the management team.
Over 1,300 firefighters remained on the scene of the two fires, officials said.
Rey Covarrubias Jr. reports breaking news for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email him at: rcovarrubias@gannett.com, and connect with him on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky and X (formerly Twitter) at @ReyCJrAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Highway and inn reopen as fires near Grand Canyon are controlled