On July 4th, the “Dragon Bravo Fire” that broke out at the northern edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona has spread to more than 111,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in the contiguous United States so far this year. As of August 1st, only about 9% of the fire has been contained.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center in the United States, this wildfire was upgraded this week to a “megafire,” covering an area approximately three times the size of Washington D.C. Due to adverse weather conditions such as dry heat and strong gusts of wind, the fire rapidly expanded, even generating its own “pyrocumulus” cloud – a special cloud formation caused by intense air rising due to high-temperature combustion and condensing into clouds.
Videos shared by local fire departments show thick orange smoke billowing into the sky, forming massive pyrocumulus clouds. Firefighters have warned that these clouds could trigger lightning, gusts of wind, and even tornadoes, further igniting new areas or reigniting previously extinguished areas.
Lisa Jennings, the information officer at the fire scene, told the Associated Press that pyrocumulus clouds have appeared over the Dragon Bravo Fire for seven consecutive days. Meteorological units have also predicted that the Grand Canyon area will continue to face extremely high temperatures and strong wind challenges in the coming days.
The fire was initially sparked by a lightning strike. Authorities initially attempted to manage the burning, but a week later, the fire quickly got out of control, prompting firefighters to launch a full-scale suppression operation. Although some areas have temporarily been brought under control, the fire continues to spread northward and southwestward.
In mid-July, the historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim was tragically engulfed by the fire, along with at least 70 structures, including visitor centers and cabins. The fire initially reached a containment level of 26%, but with worsening weather conditions, the current level of containment has significantly decreased.
The fire, according to the Arizona Republic, has become the tenth largest wildfire in Arizona since the 1990s. Reports indicate that while only about 3% of wildfires in the United States exceed 100,000 acres, these “megafires” account for the vast majority of wildfire-burned areas nationwide.
The Grand Canyon area has issued an extreme heat warning, expected to persist until next Tuesday, August 5th, with frequent gusts of wind reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. While news on Friday mentioned that cloud cover has helped alleviate the fire situation, giving firefighters a brief respite, meteorological experts warned that strong winds could intensify the fire, offsetting the fire-suppression effects of the clouds.
The National Interagency Fire Center stated, “We are in the peak of summer and wildfire season.” High fire risk threats are expected to persist in many western U.S. areas, at least until September.