The Dragon Bravo Fire was a megafire at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The wildfire was started by lightning. It was initially called in on July 4, 2025. On September 29, 2025, the fire was listed as 100% contained after burning . Fire suppression costs on that date reached $135,000,000.
The fire has destroyed 113 structures, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.
It became the 7th largest wildfire in Arizona history and was the largest wildfire in the United States excluding Alaska during the 2025 wildfire season.
Background The North Rim of the Grand Canyon saw only 50% of its average monsoon rain in the summer of 2024. This was followed by only 50% of average snowfall during the 2024-2025 winter. Prolonged drought conditions and repeated red flag warnings due to critically low humidity with little to no monsoon activity further heightened fire danger. Record setting temperatures at the North Rim in the mid 80s °F, combined with strong afternoon winds, contributed to the rapid spread of the Dragon Bravo Fire across the North Rim. According to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, both live and dead fuel moisture was at historically low levels. Persistent rainfall deficits across the North Rim and surrounding areas accelerated flammability, while delayed monsoon storms failed to provide sufficient relief to moderate conditions.
Events
July
July 4, 2025
A lightning caused fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is first reported on July 4, 2025, at around 5:05 pm MST. The Williams Interagency Fire Dispatch Center assigns fires their names. A previous fire in the area was called the Dragon Fire. This second fire is called Dragon B, hence Dragon Bravo. Firefighters initially chose a confine and contain strategy and allow the fire to burn.
July 7, 2025
The fire is reported at 10 acres in size.
July 9, 2025
The lightning caused White Sage Fire is first reported on Bureau of Land Management land roughly 50 miles northwest of the North Rim Developed Area.
July 10, 2025
The White Sage Fire greatly expands in size, closing Highway 89A north of Jacob Lake, Arizona. This prompts evacuation of the visitors at the North Rim Developed Area per the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. North Rim Developed Area Park staff and Lodge employees are told they must stay in place or they would not retain their jobs.
July 11, 2025
The Dragon Bravo Fire greatly expands. North Rim National Park Service employees and North Rim Lodge concessionaire employees are ordered to evacuate (At 1pm the employees were told that they were staying in place and the employee bar was opened then at 4:30pm the evacuation order was given). Later that night the fire burns into the North Rim Developed area, destroying the water treatment plant.
July 12, 2025
Chlorine gas cylinders stored at the waste water treatment plant begin to leak chlorine gas. The chlorine gas cylinders are used to chlorinate the water at Roaring Springs. This spring's water is used as the main water source for the North and South Rim Developed areas of the Park. Firefighters are temporarily evacuated from the North Rim, as are employees and guests at Phantom Ranch. This evacuation include construction crews near the Ranch working on the new water pipeline to the South Rim. River trips on the Colorado River in the Ranch are told to avoid stopping at the Bright Angel Boat Beach. Helicopters begin drawing water from the Colorado River below Horn Creek Rapid to use in fire suppression efforts at the North Rim Developed Area.
July 13, 2025
In the early hours of July 13, 2025, the historic Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim is destroyed by the fire. Dozens of other structures in the North Rim Developed area are also destroyed. Historic buildings destroyed include the Visitors Center and cabins associated with the Grand Canyon Inn and Campground, as well as the Grand Canyon North Rim Headquarters.
July 27–30, 2025
On July 27, the fire is now in size. On July 28, the fire significantly increases in size and at the close of July 30, has more than doubled in size to , becoming a megafire. This three day advance burns through upper North Canyon, a refuge for Arizona's native fish Apache trout, and at one point threatened the Kaibab Lodge.
August
August 1, 2025
A localized Red flag warning was issued for the fires immediate area.
August 6, 2025
Besides the “developed area” including the historic North Rim Lodge, the following trails and areas had been burned: North Kaibab Trail down to Supai Tunnel; Both sides of Arizona State Route 67 (SR 67) from the Lodge to the park entrance gate; Both sides of the Cape Royal Road from SR 67 north to Point Imperial, and south to Roosevelt Point; Transept Trail (entirety); Widforss Trail (entirety); Tiyo Point Trail (entirety); Point Sublime Road on both sides from SR 67 to the Kanabowits Road, excluding The Basin meadow; the Ken Patrick Trail (entirety); Uncle Jim Loop Trail (entirety); Obi Point Trail; Old Bright Angel Trail; The Arizona Trail from the North Kaibab Trail trailhead to the north through the Park and beyond East Rim Viewpoint; A majority of the Kaibab National Forest east of SR 67 to the east end of the plateau including Upper North Canyon Trail (entirety); Upper South Canyon Trail (entirety); Upper Saddle Mountain trailhead, and some of the Saddle Mountain Trail; The East Rim Viewpoint and the Marble Viewpoint.
August 8, 2025
Another Red flag warning day occurred August 8, 2025, and the fire expanded to the northeast, southwest, and southeast. The southeast expansion burned three miles to the east off the Walhalla Plateau down into the Grand Canyon proper.
August 12, 2025
The fire burned to within a mile of the Colorado River.
August 18, 2025
The fire passes the 145,000 acre mark or 227 square miles, an area equal to the size of Chicago, Illinois. At a community meeting held that evening in Fredonia, Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Ed Keable told the audience the fire was never a managed fire but was “a suppression fire from the beginning.” That statement didn't match Grand Canyon National Park's press releases about the fire's management under a confine and contain strategy during the first six days of the fire. Meeting attendees also learned that the North Rim Lodge concessionaire Aramark's employees still had no date certain to return to the North Rim Developed Area housing to gather up their personal belongings and vehicles left when the area was evacuated July 11, 2025.
August 19, 2025
Two Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Teams are ordered. The first is a two-agency Department of the Interior team assessing the fire on National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, while the second BAER team mobilized through the Department of Agriculture to assess the fire on United States Forest Service lands. BAER identification involves the creation of maps for vegetation burn severity and soils burn severity, allowing identification of values at risk including rare and endangered species and flash flood hazards, including prescribing and conducting treatments to mitigate impacts.
August 31, 2025
Fire suppression costs reached $100,000,000.
September
September 8, 2025
70-year-old J. Hank Hester of Priest River, Idaho, a Firefighter/Equipment Operator, collapsed while performing suppression repair work at the Dragon Bravo Fire. Line paramedics performed CPR at the scene, but Hester could not be resuscitated. The suspected cause of death is a cardiovascular emergency.
November
November 1, 2025
Phantom Ranch reopened.
Cause
The cause of the fire is believed to be due to lightning. Initially the fire was managed under a confine and contain strategy, which is intended to allow for the natural role of fire on the landscape while minimizing the risk to infrastructure and park values. Near record high temperatures, no precipitation, low fuel moistures and windy conditions all caused the fire to grow significantly in size.
Growth and containment table
+Fire containment status Gray: contained; Red: active; %: percent contained;DateArea burnedPersonnelContainmentCostJul 4NA0%NAJul 5NANA0%NAJul 6NA0%NAJul 7NA0%NAJul 8NA0%NAJul 9NA0%NAJul 10NA0%NAJul 11NANAJul 12NANAJul 13295NAJul 14295750KJul 153662.2MJul 165943.6MJul 175945.1MJul 186626.2MJul 196626.2MJul 208489.6MJul 2186712.3MJul 2296213.8MJul 2399815.7MJul 2499817.8MJul 251,03820.7MJul 261,02721.8MJul 271,04823.8MJul 2895925.1MJul 2995925.1MJul 301,06627.4MJul 311,19429.4MAug 11,18931.7MAug 21,18934.4MAug 31,21434.4MAug 41,20234.4MAug 51,34343.0MAug 61,34345.3MAug 71,34347.9MAug 81,33550.7MAug 91,33552.5MAug 101,32654.9MAug 111,25257.7MAug 121,32760.2MAug 131,12563.6MAug 1497866.1MAug 1584577.5MAug 1684580.5MAug 1777480.5MAug 1874283.8MAug 1969886.6MAug 2067088.4MAug 2165390.6MAug 2268394.9MAug 2461597.4MAug 2573799.4MAug 2671797.5MAug 2766499.2MAug 2865497.7MAug 2968198.3MAug 3069298.4MAug 31681100MSep 1689101.4MSep 2692102.8MSep 3695102.9MSep 4692103.2MSep 11617113.2MSep 19587124M
Impact Closures and evacuations On July 11, 2025, mandatory evacuation orders are issued for all North Rim residents.
On July 13, 2025, the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park is closed for the remainder of the 2025 season and Arizona State Route 67 is closed due to the fire. Grand Canyon National Park closes the North and South Kaibab Trails as well as the Bright Angel Trail (except for river trip exchanges at the mouth of Pipe Creek). Phantom Ranch is evacuated and closed.
On July 14, 2025, U.S. Route 89A is closed from Fredonia to Cliff Dwellers Lodge due to the White Sage Fire. Additional closures in Grand Canyon National Park include the River Trail between Pipe Creek and the Kaibab Trail, the Tonto Trail between Havasupai Gardens and Tippoff, and all backcoutry/canyoneering routes stemming from the North and South Kaibab or the Bright Angel trails.
On July 15, 2025, a Temporary Flight Restriction limits aircraft flights over the fire area to and higher.
On July 23, 2025, the entire North Kaibab Forest was closed.
On July 25, 2025, Highway U.S. Route 89A was reopened, removing the closure between Fredonia, Arizona and Cliff Dwellers Lodge.
On July 29, 2025, the fire swept off the high country and moved down the east Kaibab monocline into the House Rock Valley managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A closure was immediately imposed on the Valley.
On August 19, 2025, portions of the Kaibab National Forest are reopened. The closure of the House Rock Valley was also rescinded.
On August 20, 2025, portions of Grand Canyon National Park trails reopened. This includes the South Kaibab Trail from the Trailhead to Tipoff, the Tonto Trail from Tipoff to Havasupai Gardens, and the Bright Angel Trail from the Trailhead to Pipe Creek Resthouse.
On August 28, 2025, Arizona State Route 67 was opened from Jacob Lake to the Kaibab Lodge, located just north of the North Entrance station to Grand Canyon National Park.
On September 11, 2025, closures were lifted to another of national forest lands on the North Kaibab Ranger District as the Forest Service further reduced the Dragon Bravo Fire Temporary Closure to lands within the burn area.
Criticism of response The Arizona delegation including Governor Katie Hobbs, Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, and Congressman Paul Gosar called for an investigation into the National Park Service handling of the fire. They criticized the federal government for initially managing the fire as a controlled burn.
Investigative reporters searched the Grand Canyon National Park Fire Management Plan and found that the plan has four criteria to allow a burn to proceed naturally. These criteria are temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind gust. If these critical local thresholds are met, there is potential for a very bad fire.