Update on Dragon Bravo Fire and other wildfires in Arizona

An update on the season, which includes the Dragon Bravo fire in the Grand Canyon.

John Truett, Incident Commander SW Team of the Arizona Dept. of Forestry & Fire Management joined “Arizona Horizon” to provide more information on these active Arizona wildfires in the month of August.

The Dragon Bravo fire has been reported to have grown into one of the largest wildfires in Arizona history. As of the time of recording, the fire had been active for 17 days. The common wildfire assignment, or role, can be 14-21 days.

The extent of the fire has required all hands on deck. Truett says that their meteorologists and fire behavior analysts have been on site assisting firefighters by providing a forecast of projected runs. In this case, a forecast of times when the fire fighters have the best success rate of scaling down the fire.

Truett and his team have reached success with securing the fire’s North and South rims. But unfortunately, he says they are unable to place his personnel at the fire below the rim.

“The big thing is knowing that you’re keeping people out of harms way,” said Truett.

Tackling fires, like the Dragon Bravo, is a waiting game. The fire fighters must wait and rely on things such as weather breaks and favorable alignment to be able to effectively and strategically contain the blaze.

As of the time of recording, the fire is 44% contained out of the 145,000 aces it covers.