Incident management team, meteorologist not called in early days of Dragon Bravo Fire

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ (AZFamily) — A crucial member of the crew was not called in to help right away, as the Dragon Bravo Fire blew up and burned dozens of buildings over the weekend, Arizona’s Family has learned.

As of Thursday, there is still no containment of the wildfire at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, with 600 firefighters working to put out the flames, which have grown to more than 11,000 acres.

Meteorologists are key to fire management, and the Dragon Bravo Fire didn’t have one on scene until Monday, several days after the damage was done.

It adds to concerns about how the fire was handled after being sparked by lightning on the Fourth of July. In this case, aside from the actual flames, the weather played a significant role in the destruction.

Strong winds blew up from within the canyon and fanned the flames. Crews on the ground didn’t have an incident meteorologist with them over the weekend, who might have been able to warn them ahead of time.

For days, the National Park Service took a “confine and contain” approach, allowing flames to consume the underbrush while protecting the structures within the national park. However, that changed on July 11, when firefighters reported that “strong northwest wind gusts, uncommon to the area, jumped multiple containment features.”

Ultimately, the result was more than 70 structures destroyed by flames, including the historic lodge.

A handful of political leaders are calling for a federal investigation into the National Park Service’s handling of the fire. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs posted to X: “The federal government chose to manage that fire as a controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer.”

Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both Democrats, have called for answers regarding the handling of the issue, as has Republican Rep. Paul Gosar.

An incident management team wasn’t implemented to manage the fire until Monday. According to the National Weather Service website, the order for an IMET, or incident meteorologist, was still pending.

“We are boots on the ground,” said Shawn Smith, incident meteorologist of the Dragon Bravo Fire. He says IMET roles are critical and much needed. They provide fire crews with the most up-to-date weather forecast to help determine the best and quickest way to put out the flames.

“I got a call on Sunday midday, and I was here by Monday evening,” he said.

We asked Smith if an IMET should have been called sooner to the fire.

“The local weather forecast office in Flagstaff produce fire weather forecasts every single day. Whether or not there’s a wildfire or not,” he said. “Weather forecasts were being produced for the area. And IMETS are typically only called when a critical management team is issued (which happened Monday). Basically, they have the largest pool of resources. The Weather Service office is totally available to take calls and provide support in that case.”

According to the National Weather Service’s spot forecast calendar, no spot forecasts were requested for this fire over the weekend when the fire grew out of control.

A spot forecast is a detailed, site-specific weather forecast typically requested for incidents like fires, where localized weather conditions are critical. The calendar does show that spot forecasts were being asked for the White Sage Fire, which is burning just north of this wildfire.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration made cuts to the National Weather Service staff. It doesn’t appear that any IMET roles were impacted.

Smith is scheduled to stay at this fire for two weeks. Officials will extend his stay if they feel he is still needed, or send in a new IMET.

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