Tragic News - North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge, Visitor Center, Cabins, more destroyed by fire

[UTTransplant]

Grand Canyon NP announced the tragic news an hour ago. I tried to get an internet link, but the site is giving a 403 error. Here is the FB post. We were there only a year ago, sitting in the lodge looking out the panoramic windows across the canyon. Thankfully no lives have been lost, but the news is a tragedy for visitors.

 

[ferfer]

One hour later => google ' north rim grand canyon fire " in the news.

Sad! News regarding nature caused destruction frequency seems to be increasing.

 

[Wendy]

Not just Grand Canyon. There’s a bad fire burning in the LaSal Mountains. And Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP in Colorado is closed because of fires on both the north and south canyon rims. We desperately need rain but with no lightning! I keep looking up at Mesa Verde watching for smoke.

 

[ferfer]

Windy, you are correct about additional wildfires. The National Fire News | National Interagency Fire Center reports:

1. Seven new large wildfires
2. 36 uncontained large fires
3. 69 are being managed
4. high fire activity and significant demand for firefighting resources across the country

Definitely need rain in certain area and low wind velocity. Need showers in already burned areas.

 

[Primerump]

bummer, we were planning a visit to the north rim in 2 months time..

 

[Lou Schneider]

This showed up on my Facebook feed a few minutes ago. Apparently not all was lost, the stone walls of the Grand Canyon Lodge remain standing. They were rebuilt from the original stones when the first building burned in 1937. Grand Canyon Conservancy is spearheading the drive for private funds to begin the restoration effort.

 

[Jackiemac]

Wouldn't they have insurance?

 

[RRR]

Wouldn't they have insurance?

I think any insurance would be John Q Public.

 

[ferfer]

Plan is to rebuild. North Rim closed through 2025 season. Phantom Ranch is open but access options limited.

 

[Cmprman]

Don't expect any government funds for rebuilding.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Don't expect any government funds for rebuilding.

And don't expect a quick rebuild.

Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park was damaged by a freak flood in 2015 caused by a tropical storm that stalled directly over it and dropped a year's worth of rain, 2 3/4 inches, in 5 hours. The resulting flash flood didn't do much damage to the main buildings but it did scour the lower grounds and deposited mud in and against the lower outbuildings. The fast moving floodwaters also did extensive damage to the road and utilities going to the site.

The Park Service decided to remove all of the Castle's furniture and artifacts to a warehouse in CA while they made repairs. As of 2025 Scotty's Castle is still closed to the public with the furnishings and artifacts remaining in storage.

Here is a good description of the bureaucratic delays that have kept the site closed 10 years so far. "Funding challenges, staffing challenges, compliance with laws to protect historic and natural features, contracting issues, unforeseen conditions, the pandemic, and a fire."

Flash Floods of 2015 - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[garyb1st]

One of the biggest hurdles to completing any project within the Public Domain is getting input from the numerous agencies tangentially involved and ultimately coordinating that effort. It is IMHO, the equivalent of the Abbot and Costello "WHO'S ON FIRST" routine and the main reasons our Governments struggle to do anything.

 

[Heli_av8tor]

But they can raise taxes in an instant.

 

[RayIN]

Fire began with a lightening strike. Then someone made a decision to turn it into a controlled burn, which quickly got out of control.
I wonder if that person who made the controlled burn decision still works there?

 

[UTTransplant]

I love how people crying about the lodge and firefighting decisions forget the firefighters had to be pulled because of a massive chlorine leak. It was enough to kill people, and firefighters are people with families too. There is discussion on wildland firefighting pages that if they hadn’t had the chlorine leak they probably could have saved the lodge and a lot of the cabins. I have a friend who lost his son in a wildland firefight. Highly trained, but most of the crew died when the wind unexpectedly changed. Backseat quarterbacks aren’t doing much good right now.