Wildfires lit the northern edge of the Grand Canyon, burning the Grand Canyon Lodge and other historic cabins.
Firefighters were managing the Dragon Bravo Fire, which was launched by a lightning strike, according to Inciweb, the website of the US government’s Incident Information Management System.
The fire then showed “extremely volatile” behavior on Saturday (July 12), increasing 500 acres (0.8 square miles) according to a statement released by the National Park Service (NPS). The condition in the area is hot, dry and windy, making it even more challenging for firefighters.
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The second wildfire, named White Sage Fire, burns about 35 miles (56 km) north of Dragon Bravo Fire in the Kaibab National Forest.
“Preliminary assessments indicate that 50-80 structures have been lost, including NPS managed and visitor facilities,” an NPS representative wrote in a statement. “No injuries or loss of life have been reported, and all staff and residents were successfully evacuated prior to the fire escalation.”
Related: “We’re creating fires equivalent to the ice age”: humans have plunged the Earth into “pyrocene”
Most wildfires are initiated by humans by accident or intentionally, but lightning is a common natural cause and is responsible for around 10% of the world’s forest fires. Lightning bolts are as hot as 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (30,000 degrees Celsius), five times the temperature above the surface of the sun, packing 5 gigajoules of energy. These electric sparks are more than capable of igniting dry vegetation, allowing multiple trees to be lit up in an instant.
Dragon Bravo Fire began on July 4th and was initially managed as part of a confinement and containment strategy. However, according to Inciweb, fires are growing at night when visibility is low and firefighters can’t use air resources to fire and drop water.
The fire also damaged nearby water treatment facilities that released toxic chlorine gas. The gas leak meant that firefighters had to evacuate from a critical zone near the fire, according to a statement from the NPS.
The Dragon Bravo fire currently burns about 5,000 acres (7.8 sq./m) of land, but according to Wildfire Live, which tracks Wildfire Live’s non-profit surveillance obligations, the larger White Sage’s Fire currently covers about 50,000 acres (78 sq./m). The NPS representatives wrote that both were active at the time of writing, with low winds, high temperatures and low humidity.
“As aggressive fire behavior and continued risks to personnel and infrastructure, North Rim will remain closed to all visitor access for the remainder of the 2025 season,” a representative for the NPS wrote.
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