Controlled burn at the Grand Canyon North Rim

I was at the grand canyon last week when the North Rim of the grand canyon was closed due to the fire. This was started as a controlled burn that went out of control. It seems kind of silly to me to be doing a controlled burn under those conditions. It was very dry and very hot. Lots of underbrush was piled up and there was nothing stopping the fire from spreading to the tops of the trees. The worst thing was, that signs were up everywhere saying "Controlled burn, do not report." So naturally when it went out of control, no one felt a responsibility to say anything about it. We were at the North Rim on Sunday the 25th in the morning before it was closed. When we left the North Rim, early in the afternoon, there was a slight amount of smoke but later that same day when we pasted the entrance to the site, a huge column of smoke was visible from quite a distance. Everyone in the van made the comment that it looked much bigger and was out of control. Sure enough when we got back to our hotel it was all over the news that the North Rim was closed and the wildfire was consuming a large amount of acreage. It seems that the controlled burn was being conducted at a very bad time of year. As we drove back to our hotel each evening last week, we could see fresh fires burning all around us. The conditions were just perfect for fires, very hot with more than 100 degrees every day and for a long period of time.

The most amazing part of this is that it was raining here in Colorado where we had been experiencing a very dry June. I wonder if the fires have seeded the clouds with nucleating sites and now down wind of the fires we are getting the benefits of rain. Lots and lots of rain. Just a point to ponder.