16-07-2025
Grand Canyon Lodge burned to the ground. Here's what those on the frontlines saw
Curt Stanley was directing airplanes and helicopters as the North Rim's Grand Canyon Lodge was engulfed in flames and destroyed by the Dragon Bravo Fire that tore through the national park on the night of July 12.
Two days after the fire claimed the Grand Canyon Lodge, a fixture of the North Rim since the 1920s, the wildfire grew to nearly 6,000 acres, and firefighters had 0% containment of the spread, according to state and federal fire officials.
"We were just short on resources, didn't have enough people, enough aircraft to get there and, you know, effectively fight the fire," said Stanley in a phone interview, speaking of his first night working on the fire as part of an air attack crew.
Here's a look at the nearly 100-year history of Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, and how the famed lodge had previously burned to the ground.
Stanley described an image of the destroyed Grand Canyon Lodge that was seen by infrared cameras mapping the fire overnight on July 12.
"I can't see it with the naked eye from the air, so I have a screen up in front of me that I can see what my camera operator is looking at," Stanley said. "There were multiple buildings destroyed," he added.
Stefan La-Sky, public information officer for Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team, said an estimated 70 structures were lost to the fire as of July 14.
La-Sky said the lodge caught fire around 10:30 p.m. on the night of July 12, when winds were especially strong, burning overnight and into the early morning hours.
Stanley said crews were unable to stop the fire from spreading to the lodge and nearby structures.
Air crews even braved a hazardous materials situation to fight the fire. Stanley said crews were initially able to fight the fire near a chlorine leak at a water treatment facility, but eventually had to withdraw due to safety concerns about pilots breathing toxic fumes.
Stanley said that crews were unable to use fire retardant on July 12, the day the lodge burned, due to orders from the National Park Service. Fire retardant leaves red stains, caused by a dye used to make it easier to identify areas where retardant was dropped. The use of retardant is often avoided near historic structures. "That ground stays red until it rains," Stanley said.
Retardant is usually used when firefighting efforts are focused on suppression, rather than a contain-and-confine strategy, which officials used at the start of the Dragon Bravo Fire.
Once the lodge and other structures burned, Stanley said crews were given the go-ahead to switch to full suppression efforts and use retardant.
"The lodge and all the historic cabins, and employee housing, all that was our number one area for protection," Stanley said.
Flying planes owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Park Service, Stanley remained in northern Arizona skies as of July 14, working with a three-man crew to attack the fire from above.
A resident of Weiser, Idaho, Stanley was now in Show Low along with his plane and crew.
He had been fighting fires since 1993 with agencies such as the National Park Service. He had since retired, but he came back into service as a "casual hire" under the U.S. National Forest Service, Stanley said.
Stanley was no stranger to Arizona. He visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the mid-1990s, when the Lodge was still standing, he said.
In 2004, he returned to Arizona to help fight the Willow Fire, which burned nearly 120,000 acres southwest of Payson. While battling the fire, Curt met his wife, Christina, who lived in Arizona at the time. "Fire has been part of our life ever since," Christina said.
Nate Loper, a Grand Canyon tour guide, organized a fundraiser to help support victims of the Dragon Bravo Fire, many of whom were employees, guides and seasonal staff of the national park who were impacted directly by the wildfire.
The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park was closed for the duration of the 2025 season, according to park officials.
"These are the men and women who pour their hearts into maintaining trails, guiding guests, and creating unforgettable experiences for millions of visitors," Loper said in a statement.
Donations were sought on GoFundMe, and Loper shared the message on a custom website just for the fundraiser.
"If the North Rim has ever inspired you, welcomed you, or left you in awe, now's the time to give back," Loper said.
Loper has years of experience exploring the rim and rafting through the Colorado River.
He said he took his family and children to stay at the Lodge in the past, describing it as a quiet and scenic retreat.
The original North Rim lodge was built in part for the Union Pacific Railroad and opened in 1928, according to the National Park Service.
In September 1932, a fire destroyed the lodge quickly, sending the lodge's staff fleeing during the early morning hours, according to the National Park Service. According to "Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History," a book by Davy Crockett, the blaze started as a kitchen fire when a chef was preparing breakfast for employees.
The rebuilt lodge opened in June 1937. It had a limestone façade that was sourced nearby, and massive ponderosa pine trees were turned into support beams to hold up a sloped roof capable of supporting heavy loads of snow, according to the National Park Service.
Air attack crews, such as Stanley's, along with ground crews, made up nearly 300 personnel fighting the fire as of July 14, according to InciWeb.
That included firefighters working to preserve remaining structures and cultural and natural resources within Grand Canyon National Park, according to InciWeb.
A heavy aerial response was expected as part of an "aggressive full suppression strategy, according to InciWeb.
Contact reporter Rey Covarrubias Jr. at rcovarrubias@ Follow him on Instagram, X, Threads and Bluesky: @ReyCJrAZ.
(This article was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fire crew describe Grand Canyon Lodge destroyed in raging wildfire
