Rapidly growing fire near Grand Canyon prompts evacuations
The White Sage Fire, sparked by lightning on 9 July, has scorched roughly 19,100 acres near Jacob Lake, forcing officials to close the park's North Rim and area residents to evacuate.
As of Saturday, the blaze remains out of control and actively expanding - described as "0% contained" by officials.
High temperatures, gusty winds and dry vegetation have created a dangerous recipe, fuelling conditions for wildfires, park officials said. A second wildfire nearby, the Dragon Bravo Fire, has also spread.
"Due to the advancing Dragon Bravo Fire within Grand Canyon National Park, all North Rim residents are now in 'GO' status and should evacuate the North Rim immediately," Grand Canyon park officials posted on social media on Friday.
Officials issued an extreme heat warning on Friday and have extended it into Wednesday, with temperature highs of up to 116F (46C), and advised against hiking into the Grand Canyon.
Park officials said a 67-year-old hiker died on Tuesday in the Grand Canyon. The hiker, from Texas, was found unresponsive on the South Kaibab Trail below Cedar Ridge, and efforts to resuscitate him failed, the National Park Service said in a statement.
Grand Canyon staff said they successfully evacuated "approximately 500 guests" from the park's North Rim because of the fire, as of Friday afternoon local time.
Emergency responders have been battling the flames from the ground and in the air since Wednesday.
"Due to the fire's progression toward Jacob Lake, which is now under evacuation orders, all visitors on the North Rim are required to evacuate immediately," Grand Canyon park staff said in an alert issued on Thursday.
Part of the nearby highway, State Route 89A, has been closed until further notice, with the Arizona Department of Transportation warning drivers to expect extended delays.
The wildfire threat reaches beyond Arizona.
On Thursday, all staff and visitors were evacuated from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in western Colorado - about 260 miles (418km) south-west of Denver - after lightning ignited fires at opposite ends of the park.
The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit said on Thursday it was "working diligently with partners to respond to approximately 10 wildfires caused by lightning across the dispatch area".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
11 minutes ago
- CBS News
Chance of heavy rain, storms in Philadelphia region on Tuesday. Here's the weather forecast.
Good Tuesday, everyone! Today will be another day with the risk of some heavy rain and storms, but it shouldn't be quite as widespread and heavy as it was on Monday, when many parts of the Philadelphia region picked up several inches of rain and many flash flood warnings were issued. The main threat time on Tuesday will be during the late afternoon and early evening during the peak heating of the day, but stray showers are possible outside that timeframe. Wednesday through Friday, we will have a more typical summer pattern with partly sunny skies and isolated storms each afternoon. Temperatures will also soar to either side of 90 during the day and mid-70s at night. High humidity will lead to heat indices that feel close to 100 degrees! We will be monitoring for any possible heat alerts. The best day of the extended forecast looks to be Saturday, with highs in the upper 80s, plenty of sunshine and reasonable humidity levels. Fingers crossed that it holds, it would be nice to have a great weekend day after a potentially very wet week. Your NEXT Weather Team will keep you posted. Here's your 7-day forecast: Tuesday: Scattered storms. High 87, Low 73. Wednesday: PM T-storms. High 88, Low 74. Thursday: Scattered storms. High 92, Low 76. Friday: Scattered storms. High 89, Low 77. Saturday: Mostly sunny. High 88, Low 73. Hourly Forecast
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
This Growth Stock Is a Pure No-Brainer Buy Right Now
Archer Aviation is still in the early stages of its development. Everything is starting to line up for the aviation upstart. Although the stock has risen sharply of late, there's a material opportunity ahead. 10 stocks we like better than Archer Aviation › Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) is trying to break into the aerospace industry, which is dominated by a few large companies. That's an audacious goal, but the company is using new technology to gain a foothold that could, realistically, leave it as a leading provider of air taxis. If you are an aggressive investor, buying now could be a no-brainer move that gets you in before the good news really starts to roll for this growth stock. Archer Aviation builds an aircraft it calls Midnight. Midnight isn't a competitor to the types of planes that carry passengers from city to city around the world. It is a vertical lift plane that can only carry a few passengers at a time and that can only travel relatively short distances. While most airplanes today are more comparable to long-distance buses, Archer Aviation's Midnight aircraft is like a city taxi. The big benefit of an air taxi is that it can carry passengers over congested city streets. Most people probably won't find the expense of an air taxi worth the time they could save. However, it is likely that there will be many wealthier individuals that will find the time savings on offer well worth the cost. Archer Aviation already has plans for air taxi services in New York and California, with it pegged to be the official air taxi service of the 2028 Olympics. Before getting too excited about 2028, the truth is that, at this point, that's a bit of an aspirational goal. Right now Archer Aviation doesn't have any of its Midnight aircraft acting as air taxis in commercial operation anywhere in the world. It is still a money-losing start-up that is attempting to get regulatory approval for its Midnight aircraft. Don't write Archer Aviation off, however. The stock is up over 100% over the past year. That's not a random price move, there has been some notable good news. That includes slow and steady progress on the FAA approval front. But it also includes the signing of multiple agreements to start air taxi services outside of the United States. The first one is planned in Abu Dhabi, with Midnight aircraft already being tested in that market. Archer Aviation is planning to use this setup as a blueprint for future air taxi services. Right now it has potential deals lined up in Ethiopia and Indonesia. So once the business model is proven out in Abu Dhabi, it seems highly likely that the next air taxi services will be far easier to get off the ground. That all leads back to the U.S. market. This is likely to be where Archer Aviation has the most opportunity for growth. It can't even begin to tap that opportunity until it receives FAA approval. But progress is being made, with management noting that it expects the approval process to start picking up steam from here on out. In other words, Archer Aviation is quickly starting to look like it has a real business. Archer Aviation is not for the faint of heart. It is still a money-losing upstart that will likely continue to lose money for a few more years. But it looks like the air taxi concept is on the cusp of going from a good idea to a real thing. And that means that Archer Aviation is about to move from a good idea to a company with attractive long-term growth prospects. As long as you can handle the risk, buying now, before the company's business "takes off," could be a no-brainer move. Before you buy stock in Archer Aviation, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Archer Aviation wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 14, 2025 Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This Growth Stock Is a Pure No-Brainer Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Arizona governor calls for probe into federal handling of Grand Canyon fire: What to know
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is demanding an investigation into the federal government's handling of a fire that ravaged multiple sites along the Grand Canyon's North Rim in recent days. 'An incident of this magnitude demands intense oversight and scrutiny into the federal government's emergency response,' Hobbs wrote in a Sunday night statement on social platform X. Sparking particular outrage among Arizonans was the fire that destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, the only hotel located within the national park on the North Rim. The Dragon Bravo Fire, which began July 4, exhibited 'extreme and volatile fire behavior' this past Saturday night, resulting in a 500-acre expansion of the blaze, according to the National Park Service (NPS). At about 10:30 p.m. local time, fire activity intensified as sustained winds of 20 miles per hour and gusts of up to 40 miles per hour fueled the flames, the NPS reported. Firefighters took action overnight to slow the blaze's development under what the NPS described as 'dangerous and fast-changing conditions' — accompanied by aerial bucket drops of water. The use of aerial retardant was impossible, the federal agency noted, due to a chlorine gas leak at a nearby water treatment facility that necessitated the evacuation of fire personnel in the area. 'Fire managers have confirmed the loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge and numerous historic cabins in the developed area,' the NPS said in a statement. Preliminary assessments from the agency indicated that between 50 and 80 structures were lost, including the NPS administrative buildings and visitor centers. No injuries or losses of life have been reported thus far, however, the NPS stated. By Sunday evening, the fire had grown to about 5,000 acres, as documented by InciWeb, an interagency site that monitors wildfires. Meanwhile, about 30 miles north, another blaze — the White Sage Fire — had scorched about 40,186 acres and was zero percent contained as of Sunday night, the U.S. Forest Service reported. 'Hot, dry, and windy conditions continue to challenge firefighting efforts,' the agency stated, noting that readily available and highly flammable vegetation was 'creating a volatile environment.' Back along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizonans were mourning the loss of the historic lodge, which opened its doors in 1937 as a rebuilt version of its predecessor, founded in 1928, which had also burned down in a fire, according to the NPS. The original lodge, designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, served as a symbol of nature preservation and was built for its then-concessionaire, the Union Pacific Railroad. While a 1932 blaze 'engulfed the structure within minutes,' its inhabitants managed to escape unscathed. The 1937 redesign incorporated the same floor plan but had 'a more sensible structure' with sloped roofs that could tolerate heavy snows, per the NPS. 'I am incredibly saddened by the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge,' Hobbs stated Sunday. The Arizona governor called upon the federal government to 'first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage.' 'But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park,' she said. Although Hobbs acknowledged that the blaze began with a lightning strike, she stressed that the NPS chose to manage the incident 'as a controlled burn during the driest, hottest part of the Arizona summer.' 'I am calling on the federal government for a comprehensive and independent investigation into the management of the fire and a report detailing the decisions that led to this devastating outcome,' she added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
