South Rim visitors react to Dragon Bravo Fire in Arizona
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Fire activity on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has forced the closure of several trails and campgrounds, but over at the South Rim, it's a much different story.
"It seems like every year I'm out there beating my hammer saying driest ever, hottest ever," said Stefan La-Sky, Public Information Officer for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4.
According to La-Sky, the team took over the Dragon Bravo Fire Monday morning. He said the fire, burning 11 miles from the South Rim, is a sign of the times.
"We know for a fact that this year, the southwest, Arizona, New Mexico, it's record-breaking dryness," La-Sky shared.
Meanwhile, life goes on at the South Rim, where tourists endured a smokey visit Monday.
"I was bummed about the quality of the pictures that we're gonna get and I'm wondering if I can filter that out," said one tourist.
"It affects your entire sense of nervous system, you're well-being...I'm constantly worried about air quality," said another tourist whose son is with a group of young scholars visiting Northern Arizona. "They cancelled the rafting, which was a huge bummer for my 10-year-old son, and hard to come here after living in L.A. is where we're from and going through those fires."
One hiker is grateful as she reached the bottom before evacuations set in over the weekend and is now back at her home in Prescott.
She says she was at the Colorado River's Phantom Ranch campground for just three hours before the Park Service told her she needed to evacuate by helicopter.
"It was pretty nerve-wrecking. There were a couple of younger kids crying," the hiker remembered.
Meanwhile, along with the smoke, questions linger in the air over the canyon.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and some Democratic lawmakers, like Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, want an independent investigation to determine why the Park Service may have taken a defensive approach early on.
The fire was detected on July 4 and slowly grew for five days while the Grand Canyon National Park kept a confine and contain strategy. However, critics question why air tankers weren't deployed until July 9.
La-Sky says the fire blew up on July 11 and July 12.
"Normally, we can expect the fire to lay down at night. Temperatures go down, humidity goes up, usually the winds are quiet. We had strong winds both those nights and now we have a total of 70 structures lost," La-Sky explained.
According to InciWeb, the Dragon Bravo Fire remains at 0% contained. For the latest on the fire, click here.
