Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs tours the North Rim on July 19, 2025, after fire destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge.

GRAND CANYON — Sunbeams cut through the haze of the Dragon Bravo Fire, white smoke billowing from mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forests below.

Flying toward the Dragon Bravo fire in an Arizona National Guard Blackhawk helicopter, the smoke of the blaze overpowered the smells of exhaust and hydraulic fluid. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs leaned to look out the window as the helicopter circled the damage. The Democratic governor and a team of her advisers visited the site of the devastating fire on July 19.

From about 2,000 above the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the fire-devastated Grand Canyon Lodge almost seemed to blend back into the forest. To squint revealed the hollowed-out stonework that remained, with charred wood frame nearby.

"It's so devastating," Hobbs said minutes after landing in a meadow near the DeMotte Campground within Kaibab National Forest. "As a lifelong Arizonan, it's just a reminder of the shared stewardship we have of this land and this iconic treasure of the Grand Canyon. We're going to do everything we can to help support managing this fire and then get to rebuilding."

Hobbs has called for an investigation of the federal government's response to the blaze, which began with a lightning strike July 4 about four miles north of the North Rim. The National Park Service has said high winds pushed the flames beyond containment lines, ballooning the fire to thousands of acres.

Hobbs has said the state was at the mercy of the federal government's response, but near the fire scene on July 19, she said repeatedly she was not second-guessing the work.

"All efforts right now are in getting this fire under control," Hobbs said. "Folks are already looking at recovery. Those things are important. We have to learn from what might have happened that went wrong, that destroyed these structures and how we can do better in the future."

Hobbs has visited at least two other fire sites in her tenure, but none the size of the mini city that sprang up about 20 miles north of the North Rim to beat back the Dragon Bravo Fire. Rows of white trailers served as offices for everything from human resources to finance. Camping tents dotted the landscape of trees nearby, seeking out shade.

About 750 personnel from across the nation were staying there, working to get the fire, which has consumed more than 11,700 acres, contained. Arizona has 80 firefighters assisting the federal response to the blaze. As of July 19, the 2-week-old fire was 2% contained.

Hobbs stopped by the makeshift mess hall, shaking hands with firefighters as they chowed down on country fried steak and biscuits on their way to the about 8,000 calories a day needed in such strenuous working conditions.

She received a private briefing on the fire response inside a yurt at the center of camp from Incident Commander Andrew Mandell, acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Ed Keable and others, according to Hobbs' office.

"This is federal jurisdiction, but fire doesn't know that boundary, and we all have to work together," Hobbs said later.

The Democratic governor said hearing from folks on the ground gave her the information needed to better work across agency lines to manage fires.

"Seeing the complexity that goes into managing an incident like this is helpful, and certainly, I feel good about going back to Arizonans and saying, look, everyone's concerned about making sure that we're protecting as much as possible, and that we can rebuild, because the Great Canyon is so important to our state," Hobbs said.

The lodge should "absolutely" be rebuilt, she said, adding that her administration was having conversations about how the state could help in that as well as supporting small businesses that were disrupted by the fire.

Governor plans trip to Washington to discuss fire

State Forester Tom Torres said the July 19 briefing included details about effective mitigation measures, something the governor would advocate for in Washington, D.C., this week. Hobbs plans to meet with U.S. Forest Service leaders and the Department of the Interior secretary there.

On the flight from Flagstaff to the North Rim, Torres said he saw positive evidence of mitigation efforts, pointing to a "pretty darn big" pile of logs at the Restoration Forest Products sawmill in Bellemont west of Flagstaff. The company turns trees into lumber and, in doing so, lessens fire risk in forests and creates jobs, Torres said.

And while it may seem like Arizona is politically at odds with the Trump administration, Torres said "there's pretty good alignment with what is coming out of Washington and what we want to continue doing in Arizona."

President Donald Trump's orders on increased timber production and more active forest management are among those issues where both are aligned, he said.

Hobbs, a lifelong Arizonan, said she had never before been to the North Rim. But memories of the historic lodge and the crown jewel of Arizona's natural landscape are pervasive.

Her Arizona National Guard pilot that day, Chief Warrant Officer Stephen Hilgendorf, visited the Grand Canyon Lodge on a camping trim near the Vermilion Cliffs about two years ago.

The governor's flight was something special, taking Hobbs and her advisers over the Grand Canyon in a path that even tour operators aren't allowed to fly, said Hilgendorf, who is also an Arizona native.

But that was tempered by the gravity of the mission and seeing the lodge "gone."

"It was sad, obviously," he said. "It's kind of heartbreaking to see a fire destroy something as historic as that is."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Governor to bring info to DC from her visit to Grand Canyon North Rim fire