GRAND CANYON, AZ — More than three months after twin wildfires burned through Northern Arizona, recovery and cleanup have begun on the Grand Canyon's North Rim.
After starting from lightning strikes in early July, the White Sage Fire and Dragon Bravo Fire together burned more than 200,000 acres, an area the size of New York City. Dragon Bravo was fully contained in mid-September after becoming the seventh-largest fire in state history and destroying more than 100 structures in Grand Canyon National Park, including the Grand Canyon Lodge and North Rim Visitor Center.
No serious injuries or deaths were reported from either fire. But in their destruction, the fires uprooted the lives of thousands of people. Small businesses like Jacob Lake Inn have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as the fires essentially shut down the economy in remote Northern Arizona.
Still, the tight-knit community is finding reasons to celebrate. Melinda Rich Marshall, whose family has run Jacob Lake Inn for over a century, says to her knowledge, no small North Rim businesses have closed as a result of the fires.
And there's even more reason for hope.
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