The inner canyon, including Phantom Ranch, was closed, as were trails to the inner canyon, because a water treatment facility on the North Rim was damaged by fire and was leaking chlorine gas, park officials said. Chlorine gas is toxic and is heavier than air, meaning it could settle into the lower part of the canyon.

The Grand Canyon Lodge was one of dozens of structures destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona over the weekend, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed.

The fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge is one of two that has swept across tens of thousands of acres in the area. The blazes have also forced the closure of the North Rim