This article, by the Newsline staff and Chase Woodruff, first appeared on Colorado Newsline on August 18, 2020. It was updated on August 28.
Four major wildfires have burned an area of more than 200,000 acres across Colorado in recent weeks, causing evacuations, highway closures and potentially hazardous levels of smoke and other forms of air pollution in many parts of the state.
Amid hot, dry weather that has left 100% of the state under an official drought classification for the first time in seven years, the 2020 wildfire season is on track to be among the most active in state history.
The Pine Gulch Fire has burned an estimated 139,006 acres in an area north of Grand Junction. It was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31, and is 77% contained.
The Grizzly Creek Fire has burned an estimated 32,408 acres along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River east of Glenwood Springs since igniting on Aug. 10. Its cause remains officially undetermined, though officials suspect it was caused by a passing vehicle on the interstate, and the fire is 68% contained.
The Cameron Peak Fire has burned an estimated 22,845 acres near Chambers Lake in western Larimer County since igniting on Aug. 13. Officials say the fire is human-caused, and it is 0% contained.
The Williams Fork Fire has burned an estimated 12,048 acres near the Williams Fork Reservoir in Grand County since igniting on Aug. 14. Officials say the fire is human-caused, and it is 5% contained.
Colorado’s changing climate has increased the risk of dangerous wildfires. Rising concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the earth’s atmosphere — mostly the result of fossil-fuel combustion — have caused many parts of the state, especially on the Western Slope, to warm by an average of more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels. All of Colorado’s 20 largest wildfires on record have occurred since 2002, during a 20-year “hot drought” that scientists say is driven largely by higher temperatures.
In 2017, the Colorado State Forest Service reported that more than 2.9 million Coloradans lived in the “wildland-urban interface” — areas at risk of being impacted by wildfires. Fire safety experts urge residents of such zones to familiarize themselves with the “Ready, Set, Go” system of precautions.
Pine Gulch Fire becomes largest in Colorado history, nears full containment
Official estimates of the Pine Gulch Fire’s burn area have risen to over 139,000 acres, making the blaze just north of Grand Junction the largest recorded wildfire in Colorado history — but officials don’t expect it to grow much further.
Aerial mapping conducted Thursday showed that Pine Gulch had surpassed the 2002 Hayman Fire, which burned 137,760 acres in an area northwest of Colorado Springs, destroying more than 600 structures and causing five firefighter deaths. No fatalities have been reported as a result of the Pine Gulch Fire.
While conditions on the Western Slope remain hot and dry, firefighting officials are confident that they will soon have the blaze under control. Estimated containment of the fire — the percentage of its perimeter around which barriers called “control lines” have been constructed — has risen to 77%. Officials said in an Aug. 27 update that some of the hundreds of personnel assigned to the blaze throughout much of August are being reassigned to higher-priority fires.
A map of the Pine Gulch Fire released on Aug. 28. (Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team)
“The overall focus on the Pine Gulch Fire is quickly shifting from fire suppression to suppression repair,” officials with the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team wrote. “Suppression repair involves actions that help minimize damage to soil, water, and other resources directly attributable to fire suppression activities.”
As with other fires burning in rugged mountain terrain across Colorado, fire officials are also concerned about the potential for mudslides and other debris flows in the area scarred by the Pine Gulch Fire — a risk highlighted by a small debris flow caused by a thunderstorm that passed over the eastern half of the fire on Wednesday.
“There was a small amount of debris flow near Kimball Creek Road,” officials said. “More thunderstorms are predicted, and these bring the potential for debris flows and flash flooding.”