2020 Colorado wildfires

2020 Colorado wildfires
Statistics[1]
Total fires1,078
Total area665,454 acres (269,300 ha)
Impacts
Deaths2[2]
Damage>$266 million (suppression)[3]
Season
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. [3]

  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. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NIFC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  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. ^ Cite error: The named reference PG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).