By Kristen Kauffman
The tragedy occurred on the night of Sunday, July 13, 2025. The Dragon Bravo Fire was ignited by lightning on July 4, 2025, on the Kaibab Plateau within the Grand Canyon National Park, and that fire burned 149,399 acres, including 71,129 acres of Grand Canyon National Park-managed lands. The blaze swallowed 24 buildings (11 of which were historic), including 16 Deluxe cabins, 64 Budget cabins and an historic linen cabin (a cabin for storage of household fabric goods), along with damage to 73 miles of trail. While none of these losses were insignificant, we remember the most poignant loss on the one-year anniversary of the fire: The Grand Canyon Lodge, of which only 15% survives. 

The original Grand Canyon Lodge was built in late 1928 by Gilbert Stanley Underwood at the direction of Steven Mather, Director of the National Park Service. The 8,000 square-foot building featured a Spanish façade, much like Mission Revival style buildings in California, and was meant  as luxury on the frontier, hosting travelers riding the Union Pacific Railroad. This Northern Arizona monument also burned down in 1932. Starting from a kitchen fire, the only inhabitants (the manager, his wife and the maids) were able to escape in the early morning. They watched in horror as it burned down, along with many surrounding cabins. With 100 rangers and volunteer firefighters, the fire was put out before it could turn into the kind of wildfire we saw in 2025.