A combination of high winds, dry air and above average temperatures caused a wildfire in the Grand Canyon to rapidly expand and cause major damage.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. land managers are racing the clock as hotter, drier weather raises the risk of wildfires in the nation’s overgrown forests with each passing year.

The Dragon Bravo Fire continues to damage Arizona's crown jewel, the Grand Canyon, as wildfires in the Southwest persist.

A wildfire that tore through a historic Grand Canyon Lodge​ had been allowed to burn for days before erupting over the weekend, raising questions about federal officials' decision not to aggressively attack it right away.

Wildfires burning at or near the Grand Canyon's North Rim are still raging as strong winds, high heat and low humidity persist.

The Grand Canyon Lodge opened in 1937 and was the only hotel located inside Grand Canyon National Park on the North Rim.

“The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is like another world,” said Ethan Aumack, executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust, who has fond memories of skiing through the woods to the rim after the lone road that leads there closes for the winter. “It feels like a much more personal place.”

As of Monday, the Dragon Bravo fire on the North Rim had consumed more than 5,700 acres and was not contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Dragon Bravo Fire has burned thousands of acres along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and destroyed dozens of structures, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. FOX 10's Taylor Wirtz spoke to a woman whose family watched the lodge burn.