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With extremely high temperatures coming together with strong winds and dry vegetation, a Grand Canyon fire sparked by a bout of lightning on July 9 expanded rapidly in 24 hours and spread throughout large swaths of Grand Canyon National Park’s North Rim.
This is a significantly less-visited and less-accessible portion of the park that, due to the four-hour drive or physically demanding hike it takes to get there, most tourists never see.
While what has been dubbed the White Sage Fire has so far resulted in no injuries, it has burned through tens of thousands of acres of parkland and destroyed a historic lodge that was the only source of accommodation in the North Rim: the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.
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‘Dangerous and fast-changing conditions’: Fire destroys historic Grand Canyon Lodge
Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in 1927 in a style mirroring the traditional log cabin, the Grand Canyon Lodge has welcomed those taking on strenuous hikes through the North Rim for nearly 100 years.
Built out of logs made from Ponderosa pine trees, the lodge burnt within hours of being touched by flames. The wildfire also destroyed numerous nearby structures such as the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and visitors center, and over 50 cabins used for guests and employee housing.
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“Firefighters made significant efforts overnight to slow the fire’s progression under dangerous and fast-changing conditions,” the NPS wrote of the fire. “Aerial bucket drops were conducted to slow fire movement near the Grand Canyon Lodge and Transept Canyon. However, the use of aerial retardant was not feasible due to a chlorine gas leak at the water treatment facility, which required the evacuation of firefighting personnel from critical zones nearby.”
Image source: Grand Canyon National Park via Getty Images
‘It’s tragic, it really is’: former NPS chief historian
Robert K. Sutton, who retired from his role as NPS chief historian in 2016 after nine years in the role, classified the loss of both the lodge and the other historic structures as “immeasurable,” given their role in the park’s history and resource for hardcore adventurers who take on the 20-mile hike upwards in the canyon.
It is the only lodging available in the North Rim; the only other option is camping.
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“It’s tragic, it really is,” Sutton told The Independent of the loss.
“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,” Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said in a statement.
Aramark, the company that operates the hotel and all lodging inside national parks, also issued a statement saying that it is “grateful that all our employees and guests have been safely evacuated, and we join the National Park Service in mourning the loss of these iconic and beloved structures.”
The original lodge built in the 1920s had similarly burnt down in a fire in 1936 and was eventually rebuilt by 1937 into what stood to this day with the original stonework that had been salvaged.
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