News Release

Joint News Release: Obi Fire on Grand Canyon National Park North Rim Grows to 743 Acres; New Start Stina Fire on Kaibab National Forest

NPS Photo

News Release Date: July 28, 2018

Contact: NPS: Rachel Grabenstein, 928-638-7071

Contact: USFS: David Hercher, 928-634-8110

Grand Canyon, AZ- The Obi Fire, which started on July 21st, is approximately 743 acres. Growth of the fire perimeter today was primarily in the northern and southeastern portion of the fire perimeter. Light westerly winds throughout the day allowed  fire to grow through pine needles and downed logs. Fire behavior was active with single tree torching and surface fire of one to two foot flames where the fire was consuming dead logs.

Located in the far southwest corner of the Wahalla Plateau above Obi Point, the Obi Fire is burning in ponderosa pine and brush. Fire managers plan to continue the strategy of confining and containing the lightning caused fire in a predetermined area while providing for point protection of identified sensitive natural and cultural resources.

Fire crews continue work to directly suppress the 13 acre Stina Fire located on the Kaibab National Forest. The Stina Fire was detected on July 26th, to the northeast of Fire Point. Today, crews worked on prepping dozer line and used aviation assets to support suppression efforts with bucket work.

Fire crews have confined the 17 acre Atoko Fire, detected on July 22nd, on the east side of Cape Royal Road, near Atoko Point.The 32.5 acre Saffron Fire, located between Fire Point and Swamp Point has also been confined.

Smoke is visible on both the North and South Rims of the park. Smoke observed near the South Rim is being produced by the Rain Fire, which is located one mile southeast of the town of Tusayan in the Kaibab National Forest. The Rain Fire is contained but for for more information about the Rain Fire, please go to the Kaibab National Forest InciWeb page for the Rain Fire https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6002/.

At this time there are no road or trail closures within the park or on the forest, however individuals looking to hike out near Obi point should check in with the backcountry office or visitor center before choosing a route. Visitors driving along Cape Royal Road should be aware of fire crews working in the vicinity. Motorist should turn on their headlights and slow down for emergency response vehicles.

Current resources assigned to the fires are one Type 2IA handcrew, five engines, one helicopter, helitack, and a fire ecologist.

Each fire start is evaluated by fire management officials for the most appropriate management strategy. Firefighter safety, resources at risk, location of the fire, available resources, regional and national preparedness levels, and weather forecast are taken into consideration when responding to a wildfire ignition.  

Please visit https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/management/firemanagement.htm for other information about wildland fire at Grand Canyon National Park or call 928-638-7819 for recorded fire information. For additional information and photos of the Obi fire, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6030/ .

For fire information on the Kaibab National Forest, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab or @KaibabNF on Facebook and Twitter or call [phone] for recorded fire information.