Bartlett Lake businesses feel heat Wildcat Fire road closures ahead of Memorial Day [Video]

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. – The Wildcat Fire grew only slightly overnight and crews have the fire 35% contained.

However, business owners in Bartlett Lake are feeling the heat.

Hovering around 14,000 acres burned, the most problematic aspect of the burn is the road closures in the area.

“It’s crazy to go from a beautiful desert to black and charred earth,” said Bryan Church, owner of Bartlett Lake Marina.

Meeting at the start of Bartlett Dam Road where the road closure begins, the start of the burn scar line is still visible as helicopters patrol the area.

Saturday, the area was evacuated.

What problems developed because of the road closures?

“Obviously, we were shut down.” Church said. “So we lost a complete days of business during that time, which is unfortunate for us. Also, a lot of people didn’t get news of that, so they towed their boats up here to the top of the hill and couldn’t get down …