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Contact: Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski, 928-638-7958
Grand Canyon, Ariz. – Once again, favorable weather conditions today allowed firefighters to make good progress in building and improving containment lines along the W-4 Road to the north and south of the historic Kanabownits Cabin. These containment lines have been constructed to protect the cabin and hold the fire west of the W-4 Road on the Walla Valley Peninsula. The fire is now estimated at 1,100 acres. Firefighters continued to burn out along the west side of the W-4 Road to the south of the cabin to a depth of 300-500 feet. This is being done to provide a burned buffer to slow the fires advance if winds drive it in that direction. This will be followed up by aerial ignition from a helicopter to increase the depth of the burn buffer and provide additional protection. Firefighters completed the handline north of the cabin today. They will continue preparing handline to the north along the W-4 Road as needed. They are also continuing to monitor the natural progress of the fire to the south and west where it is benefiting the landscape. The management team is pleased with the observed fire behavior which has been low to moderate with flame lengths of 6-12 inches which meets both protection and resource objectives. Approximately 135 interagency personnel are currently assigned to the fire including two wildland fire modules, two 20-person hotshot crews, six engine crews, a water tender and miscellaneous overhead. Personnel include firefighters from federal, state and local cooperators. Two road closures are in effect for public and firefighter safety; the W4 road is closed from the junction of the FS268B road south to Point Sublime and the W1 road, also known as the Point Sublime Road, is closed from the W4 junction, east to the western end of the Basin. The lightning-caused Galahad Fire was discovered on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park on Friday, May 23, 2014 on the Walla Valley Peninsula, west of the main park road. This fire is being managed for resource and protection objectives including returning fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem in order to maintain forest health and protection of sensitive cultural resources and wildlife habitat. You can follow the progress of this fire as well as view maps and pictures on Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov. For additional fire information, please call 928-638-7819 (recorded message) or follow @GrandCanyonNPS on Twitter. -NPS- |
Last updated: February 24, 2015