Grand Canyon closes North Rim for remainder of season due to wildfire

The Grand Canyon National Park in the United States has decided to close its North Rim to tourists for the remainder of the 2025 season, which runs until October 15, due to a fire that destroyed dozens of buildings in the area. The South Rim, preferred by the vast majority of the 4.5 million visitors, remains accessible.

The Arizona national park, where a huge column of smoke still hangs over the immense glowing gorge carved by the Colorado River, evacuated more than 500 tourists and staff on Thursday and Friday because of two fires burning near the north shore.

The fires were sparked by lightning, and one, which had been burning since July 4, suddenly grew over the weekend due to strong winds in the area. It caused no casualties but destroyed, according to authorities, "between 50 and 80 structures" on the North Rim, including the area's only hotel, a 1930s building with a breathtaking view of the canyon.

"Arizonans deserve answers about why this fire was able to ravage Grand Canyon National Park," state Governor Katie Hobbs said Sunday on X. The Democrat called for "a thorough and independent investigation into the handling of the fire" and expressed surprise at the federal authorities' choices.

Firefighters did not attempt to extinguish the blaze, but treated it as a "controlled fire" - a fire allowed to burn to clear vegetation in an area - "during the driest and hottest part of the summer in Arizona," she said.

Fire management is becoming an even hotter topic than usual in the American West this year, as Donald Trump has implemented significant budget cuts and layoffs at the Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and FEMA, the federal disaster management agency.

More than 100 fires are currently burning across the American West, about 50 of which are considered out of control, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In Utah, one of them impressed authorities this weekend by generating a massive fire tornado.