Space Industry and Business News
FIRE STORM
Tourists, residents evacuated from Grand Canyon due to wildfires
Tourists, residents evacuated from Grand Canyon due to wildfires
by AFP Staff Writers
Los Angeles, United States (AFP) July 12, 2025

Fast-spreading wildfires have forced the evacuation of part of the Grand Canyon, with the US National Park Service ordering visitors and residents away from its northern rim.

"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," the National Park Service said in an X post on Friday afternoon.

The Dragon Bravo Fire, which was sparked by lightning and has been burning since July 4, was 150 acres (61 hectares) in size Friday evening and zero percent contained, a US government incident report said.

Park Service staff had already cleared the North Rim, which is less popular with tourists than the South Rim, of some 500 visitors late Thursday.

Day-use access to the area was also closed due to a larger blaze called the White Sage Fire, which was burning outside the Grand Canyon National Park.

However, it was approaching Jacob Lake, Arizona, a small settlement known as the gateway to the North Rim.

About 10,973 acres (4,441 hectares) have been scorched by the White Sage Fire which is zero-percent contained, according to authorities, who released images of large columns of smoke rising above the scrubby desert.

Jon Paxton, press officer for the Coconino County sheriff's office, told AFP that a hotel and some businesses had been emptied.

"Most of the folks we evacuated were campers," he said. "This area is high desert and mostly open forest for camping."

- Started by lightning -

The White Sage Fire was also started by lightning, during a thunderstorm on July 9.

"Crews encountered very extreme fire behavior due to the dry conditions (and) gusty and erratic winds inhibiting the ability for fire fighters to safely engage the fire," the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said.

One of the greatest wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a gash up to 18 miles (30 km) wide and more than a mile (1.6 km) deep.

Park Service advised against any hiking into the canyon, due to extreme heat and wildfire smoke. A 67-year-old man died on Tuesday while attempting to reach the river in hot conditions.

Last year almost five million people visited the world-famous site.

Another popular site, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, was also closed Friday because of a wildfire.

Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
FIRE STORM
Syria seeks European help as forest wildfires rage
Damascus (AFP) July 8, 2025
Syria's minister for emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through forest in the coastal province of Latakia for six days. Neighbouring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have dispatched firefighting teams and equipment including aircraft to assist as Syrian emergency crews have struggled to bring the blazes under control in difficult conditions including strong winds, mountainous terrain and drought. "We as ... read more

FIRE STORM
Underappreciated threat of nanoplastic pollution revealed in Atlantic Ocean study

Pentagon takes stake in US rare earth company

Vibration control system enhances satellite detumbling for orbital cleanup

Houses made from rice: Kyrgyzstan's eco-friendly revolution

FIRE STORM
Eutelsat to Deliver Low Orbit Satellite Services Under New French Defense Agreement

France finds cash for 'strategic asset' satellite firm Eutelsat

Skynet 6A military satellite advances with successful module integration

Skynet 6A reaches integration milestone as Airbus prepares next-gen military satellite

FIRE STORM
FIRE STORM
ESA and Neuraspace develop autonomous satellite navigation technologies

Bogong moths rely on stars and magnetic fields to guide epic migrations

Breakthrough hybrid model restores orbit accuracy for BeiDou-3 satellites

SpaceX launches advanced GPS satellite for Space Force

FIRE STORM
Sceye secures SoftBank backing to launch HAPS connectivity services in Japan

Spire unveils flight-level analytics to assess aircraft weather exposure

Bali flights nixed after huge Indonesia volcano eruption

Erdogan confident Turkey to be readmitted to US F-35 programme in stages

FIRE STORM
Scientists find new way to control electricity at tiniest scale

Space Forge and Intuitive Machines team up to boost US orbital chip production

Malaysia clamps down on export, transit of US-made AI chips

Dutch court jails 'chip spy' Russian for three years; TSMC's half-year revenue surges 40 percent

FIRE STORM
Europe launches first geostationary atmospheric sounder to boost extreme weather forecasts

Planet secures 240 million euro satellite services contract with German government

SatSure and Dhruva Space unite to deliver complete Earth observation service solutions

UK thermal satellite firm wins ESA contract to deliver real time climate and security insights

FIRE STORM
EU environment ministers test blood for 'forever chemicals'

Tourist coins pose giant problem at N. Ireland's famous causeway site

Tens of millions of tons of nanoplastics detected adrift in North Atlantic

'Happy suffering': the Brazilian gold rush that spawned iconic pictures

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.