Several wildfires saw considerable growth and smoke impacts on northern Arizona over the weekend. The Cat Fire on the Kaibab National Forest near Jacob Lake has now charred 4,100 acres; it was caused by lightning on August 6-th. Roads and trails in the area remain closed to the public. The Platypus and Rhino Fires northwest of Sedona, which merged together Friday, have burned over 4,000-acres. Crews continued with burnout operations along road systems over the weekend to stay ahead of the fire, which has now reached the top of the rim. Now that the fire has moved out of the steep terrain, fire managers are hopeful they can suppress the flames. Burnout operations will likely occur throughout the week, which will cause greater smoke impacts to the Flagstaff region as well as Sedona and the Verde Valley.
