2020 Colorado wildfires
Statistics[1]
Total fires1,078
Total area665,454 acres (269,300 ha)
Cost>$266 million (suppression)[2]
Deaths2[3]
Season
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Western U.S. wildfires
Multiple wildfires burning near the Pacific coast of the U.S. on September 9, 2020
Affected states
Background
Largest wildfire by state
  • Arizona - Bush (193,455 acres)
  • California - August Complex (1,032,648 acres)
  • Colorado - Cameron Peak (208,913 acres)
  • Nevada - Meadow Valley (59,265 acres)
  • New Mexico - Cub (25,950 acres)
  • Oregon - Santiam (402,274 acres)
  • Utah - East Fork (89,765 acres)
  • Washington - Pearl Hill (223,730 acres)

The 2020 Colorado wildfire season was a series of significant wildfires that burned throughout the U.S. state of Colorado as part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season. With a total of 665,454 acres (269,300 ha) burned, and the 3 largest fires in state history, it is Colorado's largest wildfire season on record.[4]

During this season, the Cameron Peak Fire burned 208,913 acres, making it the largest wildfire recorded in the state of Colorado after it surpassed the Pine Gulch Fire, which earned the title seven weeks prior.[5][6] Also surpassing the Pine Gulch Fire in size was the East Troublesome Fire, which, when fully contained on November 30, had burned a total of 193,812 acres. In total, the suppression costs for the fires during the 2020 season amounted to at least $266 million (2020 USD). Throughout the year thousands of people were forced to evacuate, including the whole town of Estes Park during the East Troublesome fire. Air quality was poor as well through much of the fire season, especially during the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires. [2]

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties.

Name County Acres Start date Containment date Notes Ref
Bent FortOtero1,500April 11April 13Human-caused.[2][7]
PCMS ComplexLas Animas2,175May 16May 21Unknown cause.[2][8]
VillegreenLas Animas1,731May 18May 18Human-caused.[2][9]
Cherry CanyonLas Animas11,818May 20May 27Caused by lightning.[2][10]
Bent CanyonLas Animas1,800June 4June 11Caused by lightning.[2][11]
BarelaLas Animas2,521June 5June 5Caused by lightning.[2][12]
SieberMesa1,094June 5June 9Unknown cause.[2][13]
Deer CanyonLas Animas3,872June 6June 20Caused by lightning.[2][14]
Fawn CreekRio Blanco3,226July 13July 23Caused by lightning.[2][15]
East CanyonLa Plata, Montezuma2,905June 14June 27Caused by lightning.[2][16]
County Road TKiowa1,201June 15June 16Human-caused.[2][17]
ProwersProwers1,472June 17June 17Human-caused.[2][18]
StreeterMoffat1,639July 7July 27Human-caused.[2][19]
SundayWeld2,000July 19July 19Unknown cause.[2]
Pine GulchMesa, Garfield139,007July 31September 22Caused by lightning. It was the largest wildfire in Colorado history until it was surpassed by the Cameron Peak Fire seven weeks later. 6 structures destroyed[2][6]
Grizzly CreekGarfield, Eagle32,631August 10December 18Human-caused. 3 structures destroyed.[2][20]
Cameron PeakLarimer208,913August 13December 2Unknown cause. It is the largest wildfire in Colorado history. 469 structures destroyed, 8 structures damaged.[2][21][22]
Williams ForkGrand14,833August 14November 15Human-caused.[2][23]
Deter-WintersAdams2,000August 19August 19Unknown cause.[2][24]
ShamrockAdams4,200August 19August 19Unknown cause.[2][25]
East ForkLas Animas1,682August 22September 24Caused by lightning. Burned in two state wildlife areas.[2][26]
Middle ForkRoutt, Jackson20,517September 6November 17Caused by lightning.[2][27]
MullenJackson, Carbon (WY), Albany (WY)176,878September 17December 3Unknown cause. The fire started in Wyoming, and crossed into Colorado on September 30. Sixty-six structures destroyed.[2][28][29]
East TroublesomeGrand, Larimer193,812October 14November 30Unknown cause, 580 structures destroyed, 2 fatalities.[3] As it underwent an explosive burst of growth on October 21, the fire created a huge pyrocumulonimbus cloud that rose to about 40,000 ft (12,000 m).[30][2][31]
CalwoodBoulder10,106October 17November 19Unknown cause, 28 structures destroyed.[2][32]
As of October 1, 2023 (UTC)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Year-to-Date Report on Fires and Acres Burned" (PDF). Retrieved December 16, 2020.
    *This resource is annually updated, therefore its data doesn't represent this article's fires. For the archived PDF, see National Year-to-Date Report on Fires and Acres Burned by State and Agency for 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "National Large Incident Year-to-Date Report" (PDF). Retrieved December 16, 2020.
    *This resource is annually updated, therefore its data doesn't represent this article's fires. For the archived PDF, see National Large Incident Year-to-Date Report for 2020.
  3. 1 2 Spells, Alta; Maxouris, Christina (October 24, 2020). "An elderly couple refused to leave the home they loved and were killed in the East Troublesome Fire". CNN. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ Ingold, John (October 20, 2020). "Five charts that show where 2020 ranks in Colorado wildfire history". Colorado Sun. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  5. ↑ Lytle, Kevin. "Cameron Peak Fire becomes largest wildfire in Colorado history, growing more than 20,000 acres in a day". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  6. 1 2 "Pine Gulch Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Bent Fort Fire near Pueblo, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Pcms Complex Fire near Rocky Ford, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Villegreen Fire near La Junta, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Cherry Canyon Fire near La Junta, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Bent Canyon Fire near La Junta, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Barela Fire near Pueblo, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Sieber Fire near Glade Park, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Deer Canyon Fire near Boise City, Oklahoma - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Fawn Creek Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  16. ↑ "East Creek Fire Update June 15, 2020 - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  17. ↑ "County Rd T Fire near Lamar, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Prowers Fire near Springfield, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Streeter Fire near Hamilton, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Grizzly Creek Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Cameron Peak Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  22. ↑ Fleskes, Austin (October 27, 2020). "More than 400 structures destroyed by Cameron Peak Fire". Loveland Report-Herald. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Williams Fork Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Deter-Winters Fire near Hoyt, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Shamrock Fire near Hoyt, Colorado - Current Incident Information and Wildfire Map | Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center". FireWeatherAvalanche.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  26. ↑ "East Fork Fire held to 1,680 acres, now 60 percent contained". KOAA. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  27. ↑ "Middle Fork Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Mullen Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Story Map Series". nifc.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  30. ↑ "October 27, 2020 – Smoke from Colorado over the Mediterranean". modis.gsfc.nasa.gov. MODIS characterization support team. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  31. ↑ "East Troublesome Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Calwood Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-22.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.