About 500 visitors were evacuated from the Grand Canyon on the night of July 10, as smoke from a nearby wildfire caused the closure of the North Rim in Arizona.

Employees and residents on the North Rim were told to shelter in place.

The Bureau of Land Management said that a wildfire started on its land near Jacob Lake on July 9 after a thunderstorm rolled through the area, with “gusty and erratic winds” inhibiting firefighters and spreading the flames through July 10. By the afternoon of July 11, it had burned 13.5 square miles with none of it contained.

Dark clouds of smoke began settling over the Grand Canyon on July 10, and a Grand Canyon spokesperson confirmed that about 500 visitors planning to stay the night in the national park were evacuated the night before.

Closer to the first, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said it helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake as well as campers in the nearby Kaibab National Forest.

Melinda Rich, whose family owns the 102-year-old Jacob Lake Inn, evacuated 75 employees and guests from the approximately 35 rented cabins on July 10. She also said some guests had just checked in when the inn got a call from the sheriff’s office telling them to evacuate. Her staff began calling the guests who were out exploring.

“It’s tricky for us because we were half booked and now we have to refund all of those things, and that’s a challenge financially for us,” she said. “But you also feel bad for the people [for whom] this might be their first time at the canyon.”

Rich commented that the evacuations felt precautionary, recalling a time in 2020 when a wildfire came within 20 feet of some cabins.

“We had one of those incredible, miraculous moments, a lot of prayers and then wind adjusted just enough that it passed us by about a mile,” she said.

Meanwhile, about 260 miles southwest of Denver, Colorado, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park closed until further notice due to blazes sparking on both rims due to lightning strikes.

The wildfire on the north rim was out as of July 11, but the wildfire on the south rim, which began on July 10, still has no containment and has burned through 2.5 square miles.

Fire officials said that firefighters were able to save the Black Canyon’s South Rim visitor center by removing dry vegetation and coating the building in a layer of protective material while small aircraft from Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control worked with ground crews to try and contain the burn by dropping retardant.

The park said that some equipment and sheds were damaged, and conditions have been ripe for wildfires—hot temperatures, dry vegetation, low humidity, and gusty winds.

While monsoon season can drop significant moisture across the arid west from June through September, it can also bring thunderstorms that spark wildfires. Fire remains a danger in the western states as drought conditions worsen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.