ST. GEORGE — Last week’s rain was a major boon to firefighters working on the Riggs and Lonely fires in the area of Bryce Canyon National Park. Both fires are nearly fully contained, though some trail closures remain in place as fire suppression operations wind down.
The Riggs fire has been burning since late August, 11 miles southwest of the town of Cannonville. The Lonely fire started a couple weeks later 1 ½ miles north of the Riggs fire. Combined, they have burned through nearly 2,300 acres on lands administered by Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park.
Thanks to scattered, soaking rain showers in the area of the fires, no fire growth has been observed for more than a week as of Monday. Officials from Color Country Interagency Fire announced that the perimeter of the fires was fully contained Saturday, with no outlook of future growth thanks to high relative humidity and a forecast of rain and snow.
Both fires are expected to be 100 percent contained by Oct. 15. Some light smoke from the fires may linger, and communities in the area may smell smoke periodically.
No firefighters were injured during the firefighting effort. Remaining crews will patrol the area, assessing and repairing any damage done as a result of operations.
Highway 63 and roads leading into Bryce Canyon National park are open, and the nightly road closure to Rainbow Point at the Farview Point gate that had been in place from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. has been lifted. However, as of Monday, there are still several trail closures in place in the park and nearby national forest land. The trail closures are as follows:
- Riggs Spring Loop Trail, including the connector trail from Riggs Springs to the Grandview Trail.
- Under-the-Rim Trail – closed from Agua Canyon to Rainbow Point.
- Yovimpa Point Overlook.
- Grandview Trail (066) from the Willis Creek junction to Lower Podunk.
According to Color Country Fire Agency, fire managers are continuously assessing conditions and will work directly with park managers to determine when it is safe to reopen trails.
All visitor facilities, services and businesses in surrounding communities are not impacted by the fires and remain open.
The Riggs fire ignited Aug. 24, while the Lonely fire started Sept. 10. Both were the result of lightning strikes, and they merged into a single larger fire in mid-September.
According to fire managers, the area in which the fires were burning has not been impacted by fire for many years, resulting in an “unnatural buildup of forest fuels.”
“These fires will help to reduce these fuels and return the area to a more natural condition and in turn decrease the risks from unwanted fires,” Color Country Interagency Fire officials said in a press release. “The option to allow some naturally ignited wildland fires to provide benefits to the resource instead of suppressing them will give Dixie National Forest and Bryce Canyon National Park fire management personnel another tool to use in their goals to restore and manage future fires.”
See map below for approximate fire location.
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