Visitors to Bryce Canyon National Park and Lake Powell may breathe in smokey air this week as nearby wildfires spread.
The France Canyon Fire west of Bryce Canyon National Park has grown to 6,590 acres and is still 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Meanwhile, the Bridge Creek Fire, roughly five miles south of Lake Powell in the Navajo Nation, has grown to 1,100 acres.
Hot, dry and windy conditions have created prime wildfire conditions. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for nearly the entire state with risks elevated through Saturday.
Fire activity grows near Bryce Canyon
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
For the past few days, the France Canyon Fire in Dixie National Forest has been growing 2,000 acres on average per day.
“The fire continues to burn in very dry and receptive fuels in difficult terrain,” the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement Wednesday. “Although access is limited in areas, firefighters have had success in accessing large portions of the fire.”
More favorable wind conditions allowed firefighters to do firing operations to help with containment efforts on Wednesday before the red flag warning goes into effect on Thursday, Sierra Hellstrom, public information officer for the Color Country Type 3 Incident Management Team, told The Tribune Wednesday evening.
Firing operations are when ground crews will ignite an area with blow torches, or air crews will drop incendiary devices, to strategically burn vegetation ahead of the wildfire.
“All the conditions have to be perfectly ideal,” Hellstrom said. “We won’t do it if the wind shifts. We won’t do it if the weather isn’t cooperating.”
When the wind conditions are right, the strategic fire will blow back towards the main wildfire. “As the fire front comes, it burns into itself,” Hellstrom said. “It burns into the fire we’ve created, and therefore helps us get to containment earlier because the fire will run out of vegetation as it burns into the fire that we have lit.”
Crews engaged in successful firing operations on Wednesday in a large meadow along the East Fork Road, which follows the Sevier River along the western edge of Bryce Canyon National Park.
“Our goal is to keep the fire west of the East Fork Road,” Hellstrom said.
Firefighters continue to also focus their efforts on the southwestern edge to protect the community of Bryce Woodlands, which remains on alert. Structure protection groups are going in to assess the area, set up sprinklers and pumps and make recommendations to homeowners of things they can do to mitigate risks, Hellstrom said.
(U.S. Forest Service) An aerial image of the France Canyon Fire in Dixie National Forest near Bryce Canyon National Park.
There were 392 personnel from 11 crews — including federal, state and local agencies — fighting the fire as of Wednesday afternoon. The U.S. Forest Service expects more to show up in the coming days.
Firefighters are using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, including large and single-engine tankers, to attack the flames. On Tuesday, crews dropped roughly 62,000 gallons of water and an estimated 100,000 gallons of fire retardant from the air.
Extra care is being given to firefighters’ safety in areas where burn scars exist from past wildfires, including the Left Fork Fire in 2022 and the Little Bear Fire in 2019, according to the U.S. Forest Service. These areas have snags, or dead or dying trees, which can fall with little warning.
Those burn scars have slowed the progression of the fire, though, as less vegetation exists to carry the fire forward, Hellstrom said.
National forest system lands south of Utah State Route 12, in the Powell Ranger District, with the exception of the trails and campgrounds in Red Canyon, remain closed.
Management of the fire near Lake Powell escalates
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
In the southeast corner of the state, the Bridge Creek Fire is growing on the north side of Navajo Mountain in the Navajo Nation just five miles south of Lake Powell.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region Fire Management is overseeing firefighting efforts. On Wednesday, the bureau called in more staff and resources to fight the fire.
“With critical fire weather forecasts, prolonged drought and dry fuels within the area, it was deemed necessary to elevate the management status of fire,” the bureau said in a statement.
In coordination with rangers at the nearby Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, firefighters are using helicopters and fixed-wing super scoopers (amphibious aircraft) to fill buckets and tanks with water from Lake Powell.
“Steep terrain and extreme fire behavior is limiting ground resources from direct attack,” the bureau said in its statement. “The objective of the air resources is to limit fire spread to critical infrastructure on top of the mountain.”
(Bureau of Indian Affairs) An aerial image of the Bridge Creek Fire on Navajo Mountain.
The bureau said it is encouraging people to avoid the wildfire area and the access road to the fire.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area said boaters on Lake Powell should stay toward the south wall of the canyon and avoid Oak Bay while traversing between Dangling Rope to Rainbow Bridge. Boaters should use the main channel of the lake for transit only and monitor marine radio channel 16 for updates, the park said in a press statement.
As conditions evolve, residents and visitors can find updates on wildfires across the state from Utah Fire Info.