Arizona’s largest wildfire of the year continued its gradual growth as firefighters worked to contain the blaze during record low humidity.
Since igniting on July 4, the Dragon Bravo Fire burned 116,592 acres with 1,214 fire personnel assigned to contain it as of Aug. 3, making it one of the largest wildfires in Arizona’s history.
Containment of the wildfire rose slightly to 12%, up one percentage point from the previous day, according to the Southwest Complex Incident Management Team.
Aug. 2 saw “near-critical fire weather with humidity dropping below 10% and winds reaching 35 mph.
“Despite the poor firefighting weather, crews held the line they put in to the north where the fire is trying to skirt the 2023 Kane Fire,” the southwest team wrote on InciWeb, a federal wildfire tracker. The fire still had the potential to jump fire lines to the north and begin consuming unburned fuels, the team said.
Crews also mostly contained growth on the fire’s western end except toward the south where it began to approach the 2003 Poplar Fire burn scar. Officials noted that the change in vegetation, mostly aspen, around the burn scar could slow the fire’s progression.
The Dragon Bravo Fire already destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge inside the famed national park. About 100 other buildings were lost when the wildfire spread through the state park property on the night of July 12.
The southwest team along with officials from Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park will host a public meeting Aug. 5 at Fredonia High School neat the 89A and Hortt Street in Fredonia at 6 p.m. to give an update on the situation, the team said.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@gannett.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim grows to 116K acres, 12% contained