Dragon Bravo Fire: AZ Senators demand probe
Lawmakers in Arizona are demanding an investigation into why the National Park Service made a decision to allow the lightning-caused Dragon Bravo Fire to continue as a controlled burn. FOX 10’s Lindsey Ragas reports.
PHOENIX – Lawmakers are demanding an investigation into the Dragon Bravo Fire that is burning in northern Arizona.
Specifically, they want to know why the National Park Service made the decision to let the lightning-caused fire continue as a controlled burn.
What we know:
On July 14, Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly joined Gov. Katie Hobbs in demanding answers.
In a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the two Democratic senators addressed the fire’s handling.
“We are concerned that treatment and response decisions may have affected the spread of fire in northern Arizona, and not for the first time,” read a portion of the letter.
On July 13, we reported that Gov. Hobbs criticized the federal government’s handling of the Dragon Bravo Fire.
“An incident of this magnitude demands intense oversight and scrutiny into the federal government’s emergency response. They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage, but Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park. While the flame was started with a lightning strike, the federal government chose to manage that fire as a controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer,” read a portion of Gov Hobb’s statement.
Dig deeper:
The ‘not for the first time’ phrase in Sens. Gallego and Kelly’s letter refers to the Warm Fire in 2006, which also burned on the North Rim. Fire managers decided to let the lightning-caused fire burn as a wildland use fire, and the fire went on to burn 59,000 acres of land.
Fire has burned thousands of acres of land
As of July 14, figures from InciWeb show the fire has burned 5,716 acres of land, with no containment.
What they’re saying:
“Fire activity on the Dragon Bravo Fire remains high-to-extreme with heavy fire activity occurring overnight,” a portion of the website reads.