PHOENIX — In its history, Arizona has battled major wildfires that have scorched large swaths of land, and now new ones are climbing up the list of largest acreage burned.
As of August 18, the Dragon Bravo Fire has burned more than 144,000 acres north of the Grand Canyon, prompting evacuations and threatening nearby communities.
Take a look below at where the Dragon Bravo lines up with the largest wildfires, by acreage burned, in the state:
1. Wallow - 2011 (522,000+ acres)
2. Rodeo-Chediski - 2002 (468,000+ acres)
3. Cave Creek Complex - 2005 (243,000+ acres)
4. Horseshoe 2 - 2011 (222,000+ acres)
5. Bush - 2020 (193,000+ acres)
6. Telegraph - 2021 (180,000+ acres)
7. Dragon Bravo - 2025 (145,000+ acres)
8. Woodbury - 2019 (123,000+ acres)
9. Bighorn - 2020 (119,000+ acres)
10. Willow - 2004 (119,000+ acres)
LATEST INFORMATION ON DRAGON BRAVO FIRE
Size: 144,991 acres
Containment: 62% contained
Evacuations: "GO" evacuations were ordered for the North Rim area of the Grand Canyon. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office announced that the area around Jacob Lake had been placed back into “READY” evacuation status on July 23.
On July 19, 2025, Governor Hobbs visited the Dragon Bravo Fire to meet with officials to get a firsthand look at the damage.
Community meetings about the Dragon Bravo Fire were held on August 5 at Fredonia High School and on August 6 at Page High School.
Impact: As the fire pushes its way into more remote terrain, businesses that have reopened are urging people to still take a trip to Northern Arizona and support the local economy.
“They can come and visit us, and that’s really helpful for the public to know because it does help,” Melinda Rich Marshall, at Jacob Lake Inn, said.
John Dillon, with the Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association, said four of the 16 local commercial river outfitters had to temporarily reroute their operations but all are now back up and running.
“Commercial whitewater rafting trips are open, unaffected, and we are excited and anxious to take members of the public on an epic bucket-list expedition down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park,” Dillon said.
LARGEST WILDFIRE IN ARIZONA'S HISTORY:
The 2011 Wallow Fire would go on to become the largest fire in Arizona's history, chewing through homes and land in its path from May 29 until its containment on July 8.
Its smoke could be seen from space.
In 2021, on its 10th anniversary, ABC15 spoke with officials to find out more about the area's recovery efforts, as well as what steps crews took to prepare for future large wildfires.
