The building was surrounded by vegetation on fire when a team of “helitack” firefighters arrived to protect the area on Tuesday. Grand Canyon National Park officials said the crews knew if the pump house fell, the consequences could cripple park operations for months.

The Dragon Bravo Fire in Arizona has destroyed dozens of structures and a water treatment facility on the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Drought, a warming climate and decades of firefighting policies that suppressed natural fires have turned many grasslands and forests across the West into tinderboxes.