A Colorado fire that started in August has now broken the record for the largest fire in the state’s history at more than 164,000 acres.
The fire is already 25,000 acres larger than the previous record-setting fire — the Pine Gulch fire, also from 2020, which burned more than 139,000 acres until it was contained in September.
The fire is 56% contained as of Thursday, according to NBC News. So far, no deaths or injuries have been reported in connection to the fire. Sustained winds between 30 mph and 60 mph fueled the fire Tuesday into Wednesday.
The record-setting inferno is burning to the west of Fort Collins in the Roosevelt National Forest. According to the Associated Press, the city is not currently at risk.
On Thursday, the Forest Service announced that it was closing the entire Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the first. “This closure impacts numerous recreation sites, including all campgrounds, trails, and Forest Service Roads, the Forest Service wrote in an update. “These are listed on our website. This closure also impacts numerous dispersed areas, often used for hunting this time of year. Colorado Parks and Wildlife have information for impacted hunters available on their website.”
“We expect a challenging few days ahead of us. But we have beefed up and feel like we have adequate resources in these areas to do what we can, especially when it comes to structural protection,” Fire Operations Chief Paul Delmerico said.
Some 90 fire engines and 500 firefighters have been placed along the fire’s eastern side in order to protect homes and other buildings, according to the Associated Press. The fire has destroyed roughly 100 buildings so far, one-third of them homes.
2020 continues to be a record-breaking year for wildfires in the United States. Last week, California’s August Complex Fire became the largest blaze in that state’s history after surpassing a record-shattering 1 million acres — the third so-called gigafire in all of the U.S. In California, wildfires in 2020 have destroyed more acreage than all of the state’s recorded wildfires between 1932 and 1999 combined. More than 4 million acres of land have been burned this year. Oregon has also seen more than 1 million acres burned this year.
