The two wildfires near the American Grand Canyon are expanding further. An area of nearly 10,000 hectares has been lost, according to American media. The largest fire has grown twenty times in size in 24 hours, according to CBS News.
The largest fire started on Thursday evening and is said to have destroyed approximately 7,700 hectares of nature. It is raging north of the Grand Canyon National Park.
The second fire, which is raging in the park, has affected an area of more than 2,000 hectares, according to media reports. Both fires were caused by lightning strikes. In total, an area the size of the city of Utrecht has gone up in flames.
Earlier this week, about five hundred tourists were evacuated from the northernmost part of the national park. On Saturday evening, all employees and local residents were also evacuated. The northern part of the park is closed.
The Grand Canyon is a gorge in the American state of Arizona that has been eroded over millions of years by the Colorado River. The national park attracted more than 4.9 million visitors last year.