Access via the North Rim, a lesser-used gateway to the national park, was closed as the White Sage fire continued to burn on Saturday.

Visitors and staff at two national parks in the U.S. West have been evacuted because of wildfires. Officials at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado say the park closed Thursday morning after lightning sparked blazes on both rims.

Authorities increased the size of the evacuation zone for the White Sage Fire north of the Grand Canyon on Friday morning.

Multiple fast-spreading wildfires have forced evacuations in parts of the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona, with the US National Park Service ordering visitors and residents away from its northern rim.

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office helped evacuate people from an area north of Jacob Lake and campers in the Kaibab National Forest nearby.

Evacuations have been ordered for the area north of Jacob Lake, in northern Arizona, due to the White Sage Fire.

Two separate cases of zoonotic diseases, hantavirus and rabies, were confirmed at Grand Canyon National Park. A park employee tested positive for hantavirus, while a bat found near the Colorado River tested positive for rabies.

A mix of high temperatures, gusty winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation has fuelled the fire's swift advance in Arizona, officials say.

Wildfires shut down the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado.

Hiker dies in Grand Canyon as park warns of dangerous temperatures - The National Parks Service warns daytime temperatures at the Grand Canyon can top 120°F, ‘significantly increasing the risk of heat