A wildfire in tinder-dry forest on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon grew around 50% on Tuesday after it destroyed dozens of buildings, prompting public outrage that it was left to burn for a week before firefighters tried to fully extinguish it.

The Grand Canyon Lodge was one of dozens of structures destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona over the weekend, the National Park Service confirmed.

Firefighters in Arizona were trying to contain a pair of fast-moving wildfires that destroyed a historic lodge in Grand Canyon National Park, closed a section of the park for the rest of the season and prompted calls for an investigation into federal authorities' wildfire response.