The Dragon Bravo Fire is now the largest wildfire burning in the United States and the biggest ever recorded in the Grand Canyon area, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Since it sparked over Fourth of July weekend, the U.S. Forest Service said the fire has burned more than 143,000 acres, with containment hovering around 40%.
It has destroyed more than 70 buildings and forced the indefinite closure of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
Business owners along the Arizona-Utah border say they are feeling the ripple effects of the fire – as many rely on steady summer tourist traffic, which has dried up.
"The perception is that they’ve got to make other plans and go somewhere else," said Dan Dillman, who owns the Historic Redstone Theater in Kanab, Utah. "An