Tusayan is bracing itself for another fire season and the Kaibab National Forest is already putting out the word that things can get unpredictable.

Fire information Officer Holly Krake told the Town Council that the snowpack is 25% of normal and rainfall has been down. Krake says it’s too soon to say what if any impact El Nino will have. The area is also dealing with a persistent drought.
However the Forest Service is coming into the season prepared. Thinning and controlled burns have happened in more than 19 hundred acres which is a little less than what has been planned for all of 2014.

The last time the Kaibab National Forest had to be closed because of Fire Danger was in 2002. Krake says the Forest Service is very reluctant to close because of economic impacts.