BRYCE CANYON CITY, Utah — The France Canyon fire near Hatch in Garfield County has doubled in size in the last 24 hours, burning over 4,700 acres with no containment.
High winds and a red flag warning pushed flames and smoke closer to populated areas on Monday, though conditions calmed on Tuesday. Forecasters predict the winds and red flag warning will return starting Thursday.
"As of right now, this is the biggest fire here in Utah. And it is a little earlier in the season than we often see a fire this large," said Sierra Hellstrom from the Color Country Type 3 Incident Management Team.
"This isn't a fire that's going to be put out immediately or quickly, it will likely be another couple of weeks before we're able to button up the fire," Hellstrom said.
The wildfire, which has now burned an area equivalent to about 3,500 football fields, is challenging firefighters due to its location in rugged terrain far from roads or trails.
Six hotshot crews are currently on the ground with more on the way. They're camping at Panguitch Elementary while battling the blaze.
Air support has been crucial in the firefighting effort, with helicopters, single-engine tankers, and at least four large air tankers, including C-130s, dropping fire retardant.
Kyle Carnahan, a co-pilot with Colson Aviation Wildfire, described the challenges of coordinating air drops in the remote terrain.
"If it's terrain, if we can come up with what seems to be a good plan, everyone's on board with it. All right. Let's get to work. Let's execute," Carnahan said.
"The aircraft has tons of power, it wants to fly, and all of a sudden you realize, yeah, we did indeed just drop almost 40,000 pounds out the back," he said.
Despite the aerial assault, ground crews will be essential to containing the fire.
"The aircraft as always is not effective unless there are crews on the ground to be able to do something with the water that they are dropping," Hellstrom said.
While the edge of the wildfire remains more than a dozen miles from Bryce Canyon City, smoke and ash have reached the popular tourist destination.
Kim Marico, a manager at Ruby's Inn and General Store at the gateway to Bryce Canyon, expressed initial concern about the approaching smoke.
"When we first started seeing the smoke, we could see the ash falling, and it was a little concerning," Marico said.
"It seemed like it got a little bit better for one or two days and then yesterday the winds were just crazy," she said.
Despite the smoke, tourism remains steady in the area.
"I was nervous about the smoke inhalation, but it hasn't stopped the tourism," Marico said. "All our guests are on vacation. They're all happy. So it makes me happy to see them enjoying such a beautiful sight."
