Although 14,376 acres were burned, it's not necessarily a bad thing. The McRae and Hammer fires outside of Tusayan cleared out decades of old brush and preserved the old growth trees. The National Forest Service spent more than a month managing the McRae and Hammer Fires which were lightning caused and provided the Kaibab National Forest with the opportunity to improve forest health. It also enabled crews to clear brush around more than a dozen historic heritage sites.

The Tusayan Town Council was updated on the fires at an August meeting by Bob Blasi.
He says crews went the extra mile to make sure the fires remained contained to areas that needed clearing and extra care was taken to make sure smoke from the fires did not create any difficulties for aviation or tourism. Blasi says a crew from Prescott as well as help from the Tusayan Fire department provided invaluable assistance.

The lifting of the forest area closure happened on August 15th. Follow this link to get a look at more pictures of this effort and please check the community section of the Watchdog for the latest fire updates.