Historic Grand Canyon lodge destroyed by wildfire, official says
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona – A historic lodge on the north edge of the Grand Canyon was destroyed by a fast forest fire, the park said on Sunday.
The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only accommodation inside the North rim park, was consumed by flames, the Superintendent of Park Ed Keeble told the park residents, staff and other people at a meeting on Sunday morning. He said that the reception center, the service station, a wastewater treatment plant, an administrative building and certain employee dwellings have also been lost.
Two forest fires burn to or near the northern rim, known as Fire White Sage and the Bravo dragon fire. The latter is the one who had an impact on the Lodge and other structures. The park initially managed it as a controlled burn, but then moved to the suppression as it grew up quickly, fire officials said.
Millions of people visit the Grand Canyon National Park each year, most of them by the most popular southern edge. The north edge is open seasonally. He was evacuated last Thursday because of forest fires.
The combustion of the water treatment plant led to the release of gas chlorine which caused the evacuation of firefighters and hikers from the interior canyon, park officials said on Sunday. Gas chlorine is heavier than air and can quickly settle in lower altitudes such as the inner canyon, pose a health risk.
Meanwhile, officials have declared progress in the fight against a second burning forest fire in the north of the Grand Canyon. The fire lines on the fire of the white sage which forced evacuations at the northern rim and in the community of Lake Jacob held, said officials. At the southern end of the fire, the crews of the hands and the bulldozers worked and the spread of the fire had been minimal.
But in the east and north, the fire quickly spread, with herbs and dead trees standing to the intensity of the fire, officials said. The fire was growing down to the Vermilion cliff zone, and the crews evaluated opportunities to create buffer areas that help slow or stop fire progress.
