Flagstaff, Ariz. (AP) – A wildfire with Grand Canyon’s North Rim, after burning for more than a week, level a historic lodge over the weekend, increased the investigation on the National Park Service decision, which does not aggressively attacks fire.
Arizona village. Katie Hobbes called for a federal investigation in the handling of the park service, which was dropped on July 4.
The governor said in a social media post on Sunday, “Arizonans replied how this fire was allowed to reduce the Grand Canyon National Park.” “The federal government chose Arizona to manage that fire as a controlled burning during summer, the hottest, the hottest part of the summer.”
Firefighting officials said the authorities first cleaned the fuel sources and used “limited and consumed” strategy, but moved into aggressive repression as the fire rapidly increased to about 8 square miles (20.7 square kilometers) as the firefighters said, due to warm temperatures, low humidity and strong wind blows.
The fire destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge, with the only house inside the northern rim of the park, the cabin, employee housing and an waste water treatment plant, Park Superintendent Ed Cable said on Sunday.
Park officials have stopped access to the remaining year to the north rim, a less popular and more isolated area of the park that draws only 10% of the millions of annual visitors of the Grand Canyon.
Hikers in the region were evacuated and the rafers on the Colorado River, who were asked to bypass snakes through canian to bypass a checkpoint of Phantom Renches, Cabin and Dermitary. The park superintendent said that there was no injury, but 50 to 80 structures have been lost.
By air, black smoke plums can be seen rising above the walls of the valley.
The fire was surrounded by strong winds on Saturday night. The Park Seva said that the firefighters succeeded in progressing, before they used air fire drops near the lodge, before they pulled back due to chlorine gas leakage at the water treatment plant.
Across the west, about three dozen fire is burning uncontrolled and other 80 fire is being managed to evacuate the vegetation, which has shut down the landscape, according to the National International Fire Center in twenty -two, Idaho.
So far this year, about 2.5 million acres have been burnt. According to the Center, it is slightly below an average of 10 years.
Grand Canyon’s North Rim had two Forest fire Burning – Dragon Bravo Fire that destroyed the fire of lodges and other buildings and white sages, which was in the 63 square miles (162 square kilometers) area by Sunday afternoon.
The authorities reported progress in battling the fire of white sage.
Around 5 million people visited Grand Canyon last year, clinging to South Rim the most. Roads in North Rim are closed for vehicles in winter and the lodge opens from mid -October in May.
The Grand Canyon Lodge is known for its huge pondrasa beam, large -scale limestone masks, and a bronze statue of a donkey called “Brightle the Baro”, placed on the banks of the northern rim and offered extensive ideas of the valley.
Caren Carney was living in a lodge with her husband, parents and 12-year-old son last week, when a park ranger knocked on her door on Thursday and asked her to vacate them.
He was heartbroken on Sunday to hear that such a “magical place” was burnt. After emptying, Georgia’s family could see the explosion from across the Valley.
Carney said, “I am glad that we have a final look at it to take a final look at the present before it is lost.”
Aramark, a company operating the lodge, said that all employees and guests were safely evacuated.
According to the Grand Canian Historical Society, four years after the construction was completed in 1932, a original lodge was burnt with a kitchen fire. Re -designed lodges using the original stonework opened in 1937.
Somewhere else, a wildfire burning in South -West Colorado shut down the Black Canian of Gunison National Park and forced the withdrawal of houses near the park. The fire was started on Thursday at the south rim of the park, which was a dramatic, deep gorge carved by the Gunison River.
Colorado village. Jered Police on Sunday released an disaster announcement as it caused other fire to burning in western Colorado.
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Ding reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press Writer John Sewer at Toledo, Ohio; Choline Sleewin in Denver; Bruce Shreyaran at Luisville, Kentki; And Hannahinbam contributed to this report in Salt Lake City.
Felicia Fonseca and Jamie Ding, Associated Press