Fire crews scramble to prevent 'disastrous' loss at Grand Canyon National Park

Smoke from the Dragon Bravo Fire moves over the Grand Canyon along the North Rim Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)

A team of specialized firefighters are working in the steep, remote terrain of Grand Canyon National Park with one directive: protect the Roaring Springs pump house at all costs. 

The Roaring Springs pump house is a vital station that supplies drinking water to both the North and South Rim, and was threatened this week by the ongoing Dragon Bravo Fire, which has scorched 11,742 acres and with no containment. 

The building was surrounded by vegetation on fire when a team of "helitack" firefighters arrived to protect the area on Tuesday. Grand Canyon National Park officials said the crews knew if the pump house fell, the consequences could cripple park operations for months. 

"That was a big priority for us on the first day that we took the fire," Stefan La-Sky, spokesperson for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team and former firefighter, explained to SFGATE. "It's one of the highest values at risk."

FILE: A view of Roaring Springs falls, the fourth largest spring in Grand Canyon. It supplies all water for the South and North rims, as well as the corridor trail water stations within the inner canyon. (M. Quinn/NPS)

At first, crews were doing bucket drops to mitigate the encroaching fire, and then they called in a specialized team to defend the key station.

The crews were flown in by helicopter and tasked with landing in the remote area, cutting a helispot - a safe place to land - and working directly in tandem with pilots to protect the pump house. 

"When you have visuals with the pilot, where they can actually see you, you can see them, it's a lot more efficient and it's more accurate," La-Sky explained. "That really did save it." 

If the pump house burned down, La-Sky noted it would be a "disastrous" loss. 

"Right now, it's looking good," La-Sky said. "But this fire is going to wake up again." 

Firefighters are preparing for a new challenge: rising temperatures and lower humidity. The incoming hot, dry conditions - similar to those that drove the fire's rapid growth on July 12 - are expected to return as early as Sunday. 

Smoke from the Dragon Bravo Fire settles into the Grand Canyon along the South Rim at Mather Point on July 17, 2025, in Arizona. Despite recent rains, two wildfires have been burning out of control near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, fueled by recent strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

While rain arrived in the area this week, it did not reach the fires. 

La-Sky noted, "People always think, ‘Oh, it rained today, so the fire's out.' That's not the case at all."

More than 662 personnel are battling the blaze, including 15 hand crews, 18 engines and eight helicopters. The fire grew by more than 700 acres overnight. 

It was initially sparked by lightning on July 4, burning in a remote area in the northern region of the park, and grew about 120 acres before rapidly exploding to thousands of acres. A low-pressure system dried out the area "even more than what is normally seen during critical threat periods," Robert Rickey with the National Weather Service in Flagstaff told NPR member station KJZZ-FM, setting the stage for 20 mph winds to sweep in July 11 and 12, destroying at least 70 structures, including a visitor center, gas station, administrative buildings, employee housing and the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. 

The lodge stood for nearly a century as the North Rim's only hotel and a destination for generations of hikers and families.

A firefighter stands near smoldering debris and active flames amid the charred remains of burned structures near the Grand Canyon Lodge at Grand Canyon National Park on July 13, 2025. (Grand Canyon National Park/via Getty Images)

The North Rim is closed for the remainder of the season, with hundreds of park staff and residents displaced, many of whom are now sheltering on the South Rim. 

Originally, the fire was managed under a "confine and contain" strategy, which allows fire to play its natural role in the ecosystem while minimizing threats to infrastructure and park values. But by July 12, fire behavior intensified, prompting a full-scale response, according to Grand Canyon officials. Firefighters are in "full suppression mode," focused on protecting remaining structures and monitoring shifting weather conditions, according to La-Sky.

Two firefighters stand silhouetted against an intense orange-red sky as the Dragon Bravo Fire burns through a forested area at night, with flames and smoke rising in the background at Grand Canyon National Park on July 12, 2025. (Grand Canyon National Park/via Getty Images)

The blaze has spread into rugged, inaccessible terrain near the site of the 2022 Dragon Fire, which burned approximately 85 acres, according to the the park service.

"It already looks like a ghost forest in these areas," La-Sky said, adding that the fire left behind "snags," weakened trees prone to collapsing without warning, which can pose a deadly threat. "They call those the widow makers, those trees, because they kill firefighters."

As crews continue to cut through hazardous terrain, every step carries risk. And with no containment in sight, the fire isn't finished with the Grand Canyon. 

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