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.

As of July 17, it enters the stage prohibiting campfires, charcoal grills and outdoor smoking throughout the park’s campgrounds and residential areas.

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