A wildfire raging along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim that leveled a historic lodge erupted over the weekend after burning for more than a week, raising scrutiny over the National Park Service’s decision not to aggressively attack the fire right away.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs called for a federal investigation into the Park Service’s handling of the fire, which was sparked by lightning July 4.
“Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park,” the governor said in a social media post Sunday. “The federal government chose to manage that fire as a controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer.”
Authorities first used a “confine and contain” strategy by clearing fuel sources, but shifted to aggressive suppression as the fire rapidly grew to nearly 8 square miles (20.7 square kilometers) because of hot temperatures, low humidity and strong wind gusts, fire officials said.
The fire destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, along with cabins, employee housing and a waste water treatment plant, park Superintendent Ed Keable said Sunday.
Park officials have closed access for the season to the North Rim, a less popular area of the park that draws only about 10% of the Grand Canyon’s millions of annual visitors.
From the air, plumes of black smoke could be seen rising above the canyon walls.
Hikers in the area were evacuated and rafters on the Colorado River, which snakes through the canyon, were told to bypass Phantom Ranch, an outpost of cabins and dormitories. No injuries have been reported, but 50 to 80 structures have been lost, the park superintendent said.
The fire flared up Saturday night, fueled by high winds. Firefighters managed to make progress, using aerial fire retardant drops near the lodge before they had to pull back because of a chlorine gas leak at the water treatment plant, the park service said.
Across the West, about three dozen fires are burning uncontained and another 80 fires are being managed to clear out vegetation that has clogged the landscape, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
So far this year, nearly 2.5 million acres have burned. That’s slightly below the 10-year average, according to the center.
Near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, there were two wildfires burning — the Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed the lodge and other buildings and the White Sage Fire, which by Sunday afternoon had charred 63 square miles (162 square kilometers) of terrain.
Officials reported progress in battling the White Sage Fire.
High temperatures and gusty winds will worsen fire weather conditions in northern Arizona and southern Utah Tuesday, raising the risk to the highest level in the region since the two large wildfires ignited earlier this month.
Elevated to critical (Levels 1 and 2 out of 3) fire weather danger is in place on Tuesday and includes the White Sage and Dragon Bravo fires, according to the Storm Prediction Center, which also warned of “gusty erratic winds from nearby thunderstorms.”
Nearly 5 million people visited the Grand Canyon last year, with most sticking to the South Rim. Roads in the North Rim are closed to vehicles in the winter and the lodge opens in May through mid-October.
Historic lodge burned
The Grand Canyon Lodge, known for its huge ponderosa beams, massive limestone facade and a bronze statue of a donkey named “Brighty the Burro,” was perched on the edge of the North Rim and offered sweeping views of the canyon.
Caren Carney was staying at the lodge with her husband, parents and 12-year-old son when a park ranger knocked on their door Thursday and told them to evacuate.
Carney’s parents first took her to the North Rim in the early 90s when she was 12, and the family decided to do the same with her son this year now that he was the same age. She was overjoyed to show her husband and son the serene beauty of the North Rim for the first time, and to bring her dad back to one of his favorite places in the world.
Carney said she was heartbroken Sunday to hear that such a “magical place” had burned down. After evacuating, the family from Georgia relocated to the South Rim to continue their vacation and they could see the blaze from across the canyon.
“We told my son while visiting that this is now a family tradition and he should bring his children when they are 12,” Carney said. I hope there will be something as magnificent for them to see in the future, and I’m so glad we got to have one final look at it in the present before it was lost.”
Aramark, the company that operated the lodge, said all employees and guests were safely evacuated.
An original lodge burned down from a kitchen fire in 1932, four years after construction was completed, according to the Grand Canyon Historical Society. The redesigned lodge using the original stonework opened in 1937.
Wildfire closes national park in Colorado
Elsewhere, a wildfire burning in southwestern Colorado closed Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and forced the evacuation of homes near the park. The fire was started by lightning Thursday on the south rim of the park, a dramatic, deep gorge carved by the Gunnison River.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a disaster declaration on Sunday because of it and other fires burning in western Colorado.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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