Dragon Bravo Fire at Grand Canyon park destroys dozens of structures
The Dragon Bravo Fire at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park intensified over the weekend, destroying 50-80 structures.
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PHOENIX — The Dragon Bravo Fire at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park intensified over the weekend, destroying several 50-80 structures.
Officials said a historic lodge was destroyed, as well as a visitor center, gas station, employee housing and other structures. No injuries have occurred and staff and residents were evacuated prior to the fire spreading.
The fire intensified around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday due to windy conditions.
The following trails have been closed due to the wildfire:
- North Kaibab Trail
- South Kaibab Trail
- Bright Angel Trail
- Phantom Ranch
- Bright Angel Trail below Havasupai Gardens.
How big is the Dragon Bravo Fire?
Officials said Sunday morning the wildfire had burned 5,000 acres with 0% containment.
The Dragon Bravo Fire began around 5 p.m. on July 4 after a lighting strike within the Grand Canyon park. The fire is about 35 miles away from the White Sage Fire.
A fire management team has been ordered for the wildfire and will take command on Monday.
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Comments
3 Comments
Better forest management needs to occur, starting with enhanced fire breaks for all structures.
The forest service was well aware of the fire but did little to address it until it became a threat, by then it posed a serious threat and it was too late.
It's a sad day in this house today.
At first, they were working that fire as a controlled burn. The problem is that the temperature went way up, the winds came up, they lost control of the fire and the North Rim Lodge and a lot of other buildings on the North Rim were destroyed. It seems to me that when these forest fires are near buildings or other important infrastructure, they need to work toward putting the fire out versus attempting to do controlled burns. This is far from the first time that this has happened in AZ. If they want to take those chances in the wide open forest areas versus areas where there is important infrastructure, that's understandable.