Colorado wildfires: State’s worst fire season since 2020 sees 218,000 acres scorched

Wildfires that sparked across Colorado this year whether by lightning or abandoned campfires have together scorched more acres than the past four years combined marking the worst wildfire season in the state since While this year s not-yet-complete fire season already dwarfs that of modern years it s come nowhere close to the destruction of the wildfires disclosed Camille Stevens-Rumann an associate professor who studies wildfires at Colorado State University The dozens of large wildfires that sent up smoke across Colorado in consumed roughly acres and destroyed more than buildings according to a National Interagency Fire Center annual description for the Rocky Mountain region Three fires the Cameron Peak East Troublesome and Pine Gulch fires are Colorado s three largest on record according to the state s Division of Fire Prevention and Control Another two the Grizzly Creek and Logan fires also rank in the state s top So far this year nearly two dozen large wildfires have charred roughly acres in Colorado mostly on the Western Slope The flames have destroyed at least buildings including homes and other structures according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center That s more than the acres burned each year from to combined according to figures from the center s annual reports More buildings have also been destroyed this year than in each of the years during that time frame The below-average snowpack and lack of rain fueled extreme drought across western Colorado this year allowing fires that sparked to spread rapidly Stevens-Rumann explained Fire behavior analysts previously noted the Western Slope s drought put brush and other vegetation in the area into dormant winter-like states making it easier to burn Increased snowpack especially later snow into the spring and summer limits the fuels available for fires to burn Stevens-Rumann stated You might still have the light flashy fuels like grass ready to burn but if the trees are still holding water it limits the fire s spread she mentioned The Lee fire which is burning on acres between Meeker and Rifle started in Rio Blanco County on Aug before exploding in size throughout the following weeks At one point the flames raced across miles in a single day It is now the fifth-largest wildfire ever recorded in Colorado according to state fire records The fire season was also worsened by a late and sporadic monsoon season revealed Nikolai Balashov a meteorologist for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center That allowed the drought to start escalating through late May June and July Balashov noted He stated the storms weren t wet enough to produce rain but they were strong enough to create lightning which sparked majority of the fires on Colorado s Western Slope this year The Lee and Elk fires west and east of Meeker the Derby fire in Eagle County the South Rim fire in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park the Sowbelly fire in in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area the Turner Gulch and Wright Draw fires on opposite sides of Unaweep Canyon and the Stoner Mesa fire in San Juan National Forest were all started by lightning this year according to episode reports Related Articles Colorado wildfires Lee fire downgraded back to fifth-largest in state history Colorado wildfires Lee fire now fourth-largest in state history Colorado wildfires Rains come to the aid of firefighters across state Colorado wildfires Western Slope fires continue to grow ahead of forecasted rain storms Colorado wildfires Long-awaited monsoonal rains come to Western Slope fires Each of those fires has burned thousands of acres Lightning sparked multiple more incidents across the state that firefighters were able to contain to a inadequate hundred acres or less And we re still in the heart of our core fire season Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center manager Travis Hartsburg commented It s very likely more fires will start across the state before the main fire season ends in October though how big they ll grow remains to be seen he disclosed Wildfires in Colorado have increased in both frequency and size over the last years but especially in the past decade according to a up-to-date assessment from Colorado State University s Regional Economic Enhancement Institute Colorado has fire feasible year-round but the main fire season is June through October The state s fire season has grown by more than days since the s and the danger is only continuing to grow Stevens-Rumann stated Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter