On September 15, at 4:19 p.m., the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received a request for assistance from the US Forest Service to assist with a wildfire. Sheriffs deputies, while in route, learned it was believed that the fire started after an ATV crash.
The ATV went off the road and over the edge of the rim, falling possibly up to 400 feet down the cliff face.
Earlier in the day, four individuals had been out riding ATVs and had been reported overdue. They were last seen in the area of the fire.