Highway closures and evacuations remain in effect as a wildfire burns more than 51,000 acres in far northern Coconino County. It is one of two blazes raging at or near the northern rim of the Grand Canyon.

In the last 24 hours, the fire jumped Highway 89A, a major corridor connecting the Grand Canyon’s North Rim to communities in southern Utah.

Authorities maintained the evacuation zones for the White Sage Fire north of the Grand Canyon as the fire grew expectantly.

Wildfires can burn and spread differently depending on what vegetation they burn. The two fires in northern Arizona have varied landscapes. Ponderosa pine trees grow near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and can live for hundreds of years.

Hundreds of visitors and residents were evacuated from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park this week as two wildfires advanced toward the park.