Update on North Rim Fires in Grand Canyon National Park

Date: August 17, 2012
Contact: Shannan Marcak, 928-638-7958

Grand Canyon, Ariz. - Fire managers on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park continue to manage the Green Lake Fire and are now managing the Manzanita Fire for multiple objectives.

Regular monsoonal moisture during the last week extinguished the Tiyo Fire and prevented any measurable growth on the Green Lake Fire. Continued monsoonal weather patterns with a slight warming trend are expected over the next week. Little growth on the remaining fires is anticipated until a significant drying trend occurs. 

Tiyo Fire:The Tiyo Fire has been declared out.   

Green Lake Fire:The Green Lake Fire remains less than one-quarter acre in size and is located on the Walhalla Neck on the west side of the Cape Royal Road approximately one mile south of the Greenland Lake Cabin. This lightning-caused fire is creeping and smoldering in mixed-conifer forest with ponderosa pine on the ridge tops and pockets of grass and locust. The area last burned in 2007 during the Walhalla Neck Prescribed Fire. 

Manzanita Fire:The Manzanita Fire is less than one-quarter acre in size and is located near the Green Lake Fire on the Walhalla Plateau. This lightning-caused fire is approximately 2.5 miles east-northeast of the North Rim developed area and 1.5 miles south-southwest of the Green Lake Fire. The Manzanita Fire is smoldering in dead and down fuels from the 2009 Aspen Fire.  

Objectives:The Green Lake and Manzanita Fires are being managed for multiple objectives. Resource objectives include maintainingfirein a fire-adapted ecosystem and recyclingof forest nutrients. Protection objectives include protection of firefighter and visitor safety, sensitive cultural resources and critical wildlife habitat. 

Smoke:While regular monsoonal rains continue, minimal growth is expected on these fires. If rains should decrease and a significant drying trend occur, growth on these fires is possible and smoke may become visible from Highway 67 within the park, Fuller Canyon Road, Cape Royal Road, the North Rim developed area and South Rim viewpoints. 

You can follow the progress of these fires on InciWeb at http://www.inciweb.org. For more on Grand Canyon's Fire Management program, please visit us on the web at https://www.nps.gov/grca/parkmgmt/firemanagement.htm.  

-NPS-