BARTLETT LAKE, AZ (AZFamily) – C

“The marina, the restaurant, the boat rentals, the boat club, everything on our spit is open on weekends,” said Bryan Church, owner of Bartlett Lake Marina.

The road in question is Bartlett Dam Road. Church said that road is closed more often than they would like due to wildfires.

“We’ve had to close five times this year, which is very unusual,” Church said. “Lightning, that’s Mother Nature doing her thing, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The most recent forest fire broke out on Sunday as a storm passed through the area.

Within minutes, flames lit up the desert surrounding the marina. “This Bartlett fire was the closest to us this year, it’s probably only half a mile away.

“They had to dock the boats and close the marina for about four days, the same length of time the other closures have lasted this year.

Every day that this happens means an additional struggle for us to keep the business afloat.

“We’re obviously hurting, but we’re also getting very nice messages from the people who use our facility. They’re worried about us, praying for us, just wonderful things,” Church said. As Church prepares the marina for the weekend when people can enjoy it, he said he couldn’t be more thankful to the firefighters this year for keeping everything safe.

“We’ve gotten to know them pretty well over the last few months and they’re a bunch of great guys and girls. They do an incredible job with this stuff.”

Everything in the marina will be open again at the weekend. There are still a few closures on the lake itself, however. This only applies to the north side, where there are campsites.

Officials are unsure when the campground will reopen.

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