Reports of a devastating wildfire seem so distant to us. We are sad to see the forests burn but the wildfire doesn’t touch us until it touches a place we love – such is the destruction of the Lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Yet, more damage could be on the horizon. We visited East Pocket as the fire burned. The lookout, Barb Zinn, helped us understand the Dragon Bravo fire in a new light. When summer rains arrive next year, the runoff from the vast acreage burned will drain across this sterile soil with nothing to retain the water. In the path of the debris riding the runoff lies Roaring Springs, the primary source of water for the North and South rims. The debris may bury the spring. As the torrent sweeps downstream to the Colorado River, it could destroy the waterline that the government has just rebuilt at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars. When the water burst out of the Box, as this passage is called, it will overwhelm Phantom Ranch, the historic and vital headquarters on the banks of the Colorado River. Hikers depend on the Ranch for sustenance, water and lodging. Anyone who has hiked into Phantom Ranch, stopped along a raft trip or ridden a mule down the rock trail would find this unthinkable. Grand Canyon Village would be forced to transport water from outside the park for millions of visitors. We all hope the mitigation efforts will pay off before such damage can be rendered. I can’t help but wish that whoever made the decision to allow these flames to tear through a bone-dry forest with high winds had been wiser and worked to suppress the fire rather than call it a controlled burn! We’ve published two books that touched on the threat of wildfire. Check out Standing Watch: The Fire Towers of Arizona and Arizona’s Springs: The Desert’s Draught. Standing Watch is available through Morten Moore Publishing, Arizona’s Springs can be found through Amazon.