Flagstaff, Ariz. (AP) – Wil on a fire that torn through the historic Lodge of the Grand Canyon and exploded out of control on Monday, was allowed to burn days before it erupted over the weekend, raising control over the national park service not to attack the fire immediately.
The fire on the more isolated north edge of the canyon, where most visitors do not enter, quickly burned without restriction, said fire officials. No injuries have been reported, but more than 70 structures have been lost, including a center for visitors and several cabins.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbes has called for a federal investigation into a park fire processing, which began with a strike on Lightning 4 July.
“The Federal Government has chosen to manage this fire as a controlled burning during the dry, the hottest part of Arizona’s summer,” said the governor of the social media after Sunday.
Authorities first used a strategy to “restrict and detention”, but transferred to aggressive suppression, as the fire – one of the two with whom firefighters deal with the northern edge – rapidly growing due to hot temperatures, low humidity and strong wind gusts, said firefighters.
The fire destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge, the only accommodation in the northern edge of the park, along with the housing of employees and the wastewater treatment plant, said the head of the park Ed Kibbes on Sunday.
Park employees have closed access to the rest of the year to northern Rome, an less popular area that attracts only about 10% of the millions of annual visitors to Grand Canyon.
Tourists in the area were also evacuated to the Colorado River, where snakes through the canyon were told to bypass Phantom Ranch, a cabin and dormitory. The trails to the area of the northern and southern wheels of the canyon were also closed.
From the air you can see plums of black smoke, rising above the walls of the canyon and filled with fog parts of the park.
The fire broke out on Saturday night, fueled by strong winds. Firefighters have been able to make progress by using drops for the air firefighters near the hut before they needed to retreat due to chlorine gas leaks at the treatment plant, the park said.
Tourists were also evacuated because of the concern that poisonous, heavier than air gas could sink down into the canyon.
Fire season in the Western US
To the west, about three dozen fires burn illegal, and the other 80 fires have been able to clear vegetation, which has clogged the landscape, according to the National Center for Instrarored in Boise, Idaho.
So far this year, nearly 2.5 million decares have burned. It’s a little below the average for 10 years, the center said on Monday.
Wild fire burning in southwestern Colorado closed the Black Canyon from Gunnison National Park and forced the evacuations nearby. It had burned about 5.7 square miles (14.8 square kilometers) to Monday. The fire started from lightning on Thursday on the southern edge of the park, dramatically, deep gorges carved by the Gunizon River.
Fire officials said the brush and trees are very dry and there is only a minimal chance of rain in the coming days. Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a disaster declaration because of the fire and others in Western Colorado.
Along the northern edge of the Grand Canyon, the Dragon Bravo fire, which destroyed the lodge and other buildings, spread nearly 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) on Monday.
The white sage fire is also growing significantly over the past day, now it has grown 77 square miles (199 square kilometers) with no restriction. Officials report progress in the fight against the fire, but evacuations.
History of the Grand Canyon Lodge
The Grand Canyon Lodge, known for its huge Ponderosa beams, a massive limestone facade and a bronze statue of a donkey named “Bright the Burro”, was perched on the edge of the North Gian and offered extensive views of the canyon.
Karen Carney was staying in the lodge last week with her husband, parents and 12-year-old son when a ranger at the park knocked on their door on Thursday and told them to evacuate.
She was broken by heart on Sunday to hear that such a “magical place” had burned. After evacuating, the Georgia family went to the southern Zhang and could see the flame from all over the canyon.
“I am so glad that we should look at it in the present before it is lost,” Carney said.
Aramarc, the company that managed the lodge, said all employees and guests were safely evacuated.
The original apartment burned from a fire in the kitchen in 1932, four years after the construction was completed, according to the Historical Society of Grand Canyon. The revised lodge using the original stone workmanship was discovered in 1937.
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Ding has reported by Los Angeles and Seewer, Ohio reported. Associated Press Reporters Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Susan Montoya Brian in Albukerke; Colleen Slevin in Denver; Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Kentucky; And Hannah Schönbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.