Mt. Emma Fire receives moisture; less smoke, moderated fire

The Mt. Emma Fire has grown to 4,201 acres in size, and is burning in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument on the Arizona Strip, Arizona | Photo courtesy BLM Arizona Strip, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Interagency firefighting efforts continue on the Mt. Emma Fire. The lightning-caused fire located 75 miles southeast of St. George is approximately 3,950 acres.

The fire has received some moisture and has benefited from the increased humidity. This has moderated fire activity and less smoke is visible in the area as a result.

The fire has been managed by a Color Country Interagency Type 3 Incident Management Team, which will be transitioning to a smaller Interagency Type 3 organization beginning Thursday. Resources will include two Type 6 Engines, one Hot Shot crew and a Type 3 Helicopter with associated helitack crew.

Due to the rough, remote terrain fire managers will continue to use direct and indirect suppression tactics throughout the length of this fire in order to maintain safety for fire personnel.

With the ongoing fire activities and upcoming holiday, there is still a significant amount of traffic in the area of the fire; therefore, fire managers request the public’s help in ensuring safety on backcountry roadways in the vicinity of the fire.

There are no road or trail closures anticipated at this time. Smoke may be visible from St. George and Kanab, as well as Fredonia and the North and South Rims in Arizona.

Fire History

The fire began June 24 at 4:40 p.m. on the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument and burned into Grand Canyon National Park June 25.

The fire is burning in open ponderosa pine, pinyon and juniper.

Direct and indirect tactics include fire personnel fighting fire on the edge of the fire or removed from the fire in an area that allows them to fall back to road or natural barriers for safety.

The Mt. Emma Fire is burning in and out of the footprint of the 1999 Emma Fire, which burned 1,286 acres. It is also located northwest of the 2005 Tuweep Fire, which burned 1,866 acres.

As firefighters remain busy with lightning-caused fires from recent thunderstorms, they are asking for everyone’s help in preventing human-caused fires. Remember, the use of fireworks is prohibited on public lands.

Related posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.