TOP STORY: A dry thunderstorm last Thursday sparked a number of wildfires in our listening area. KVNF’s Brody Wilson provided a run down last Friday during Morning Edition, covering a number of fires in the region that were burning last week.
As of Sunday afternoon the South Rim Fire at the Black Canyon had grown to over 3,500 acres with zero containment. The fire prompted evacuation of all staff and visitors to the park on Thursday. With the growth of the fire additional evacuations were ordered over the weekend. To include all Bostwick park residents and those north of Bostwick Park to include K73 Trail as well as M73, N73, N74 and O74 Roads. All access to the Black Canyon is closed via Highway 50 and Hwy 347 is closed.
The National Park Service has closed the westside of Blue Mesa Reservoir from Middle Bridge heading west to assist incoming firefighting aircraft. The aircraft will be using the reservoir for water resupply to fight the South Rim Fire. At this time there is no estimated time for the reopening of the westside of Blue Mesa Reservoir to boating. For accurate and timely information on the Black Canyon fire, visit the newly established South Rim Fire Information Facebook page.
The Sowbelly Fire burning in Mesa, Montrose and Delta Counties has grown to 2,273 acres as of Sunday afternoon. The fire in the Escalante-Dominguez Canyon has promoted a Level 2 evacuation for residents down Escalante Canyon. According to Watch Duty app information fire cres made progress towards completing a fire line on the south and west parts of the fire, cres are working to secure the fire along the rim and equipment operators are working to clear brush for better access to the fire.
KVNF will keep you updated on the fires in our region on Morning Edition and your Regional Newscast. However, wildfire conditions can change rapidly with some being contained, some being extinguished and the possible addition of new fires in our area. With that in mind, we refer you to a list of official links to local and regional wildfire information on our website at kvnf.org.
FEATURE: The passage of President Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in both the Senate and House have sent shock waves across the healthcare industry. Rural hospitals and other health providers are caught wondering what the future holds without adequate Medicaid reimbursements. I spoke with Jonathan Cohee, CEO of Delta Health, last Friday to get the ‘pulse’ on how this small hospital on the Western Slope plans to move forward. This is the first of a three part series airing this week.
Be sure and tune in tomorrow as we continue our conversation with Jonathan Cohee, CEO of Delta Health, on the recent passage of President Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” which will cut Medicaid roughly $1 trillion dollars in federal funding over 10 years.
