Drought, a warming climate and decades of firefighting policies that suppressed natural fires have turned many grasslands and forests across the West into tinderboxes.

Lightning started the Dragon Bravo Fire on July 4, 2025. The fire was burning in the ponderosa pine forest within the northern national park boundaries, consuming 5,000 acres. The entire North Rim of the Grand Canyon was closed. The fire had burned between 50 and 80 structures on the North Rim, according to park officials.

The Dragon Bravo Fire has destroyed dozens of structures and a water treatment facility, and the White Sage Fire, located in Kaibab National Forest, has forced hundreds to evacuate.

A wildfire burning in Grand Canyon National Park triggered a chlorine gas leak Friday afternoon after flames reached a water treatment facility.

Hundreds of visitors and residents were evacuated from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park this week as two wildfires advanced toward the park.