After two days of strong winds over the wildfire, minimal growth occurred in critical areas of the Ikes Fire on the Kaibab Plateau. The wildfire remained at a little more than 11,000 acres in size despite the high wind event.
Last week, two helicopters were used over portions of the fire below the canyon rim in Quaking Aspen Canyon to reduce the threat to unburned areas on Kaibab National Forest lands northeast of Fire Point. While the helicopter water drops did not entirely extinguish the wildfire, they did moderate fire behavior during the critical wind event.
There is still potential for the Ikes Fire to move into unburned areas above and below the canyon rim. To prepare for this, fire crews have burned out along a containment line at Forest Road 271 on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest in order to assist in the control of future fire growth.