Arizona wildfire destroys historic Grand Canyon lodge as governor demands probe into federal response: Live updates

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said she was “saddened” by the Dragon Bravo wildfire’s destruction of historic buildings — including the Grand Canyon Lodge — at Grand Canyon National Park.

“I am incredibly saddened by the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, and my heart goes out to every person impacted by the Dragon Bravo Fire near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to every firefighter and first responder taking action to combat the flames.”

She then called into question the initial response by federal authorities after lightning ignited Dragon Bravo fire on July 4:

“An incident of this magnitude demands intense oversight and scrutiny into the federal government’s emergency response. They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage. But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park.”

“While the flame was started with a lightning strike, the federal government chose to manage that fire as a controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer. I am calling on the federal government for a comprehensive and independent investigation into the management of the Fire and a report detailing the decisions that led to this devastating outcome.”

Senator Ruben Gallego and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said they planned to investigate the National Parks Service’s early response to the Drago Bravo fire to determine what impact, if any, it had on the blaze’s eventually spread.

“Because of the Dragon Bravo Fire, Arizona lost more than a historic lodge, it lost a piece of our state history,” Gallego wrote on X. “As Governor Hobbs has rightly called for, there must be a comprehensive, independent investigation into the handling of fire and the rationale for treating it as a controlled burn— especially as Arizona experiences the driest, hardest part of summer. I will do my part on the federal level to get answers.”

The Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires have prompted closures across the northern edge of Grand Canyon National Park.

The closures include call of the inner corridor hiking trails, all campgrounds and all other interior areas including the North and South Kaibab Trails, the Phantom Ranch, and Bright Angel Trail below Havasupai Gardens, according to the NPS.

Visitors and staff at two national parks in the U.S. West have been evacuated because of wildfires.

The Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona closed Thursday because of a wildfire on adjacent Bureau of Land Management land near Jacob Lake that began Wednesday evening after a thunderstorm moved through the area.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby. The fire burned about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers) with zero containment.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Denver, also closed Thursday morning after lightning sparked blazes on both rims, the park said.

Visitors of a historic lodge on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim have expressed their heartbreak online, after the structure was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire.

“This is a devastating loss for park employees, all of us who’ve had the pleasure of staying here, and everyone who will never get a chance to see it,” one user wrote, after the National Park announced the news Sunday.

The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, according to park Superintendent Ed Keeble. He added that the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing also were lost to the flames.