5 of Colorado’s Largest Wildfires were Human-Caused. Why?
Four of Colorado’s largest wildfires in history have all occurred due to human-caused accidents. Which begs the question: how can we enjoy nature without destroying it?
It is inevitable that human interaction with the planet happen. If anything, sometimes it is not only necessary, but also good. This makes people, us, a piece of something much bigger than us. While three out of these five fires occured in Northern Colorado, it is important to study all of these and learn from them. Northern Colorado dwellers can learn from all these fires. Discovering how to control what they can regarding the occurance of a wildfire.
1. Beaver Creek Fire — Jackson County, 2016
The smallest fire out of this list, Beaver Creek sits at the 15th largest fire in Colorado history. The total acreage that this fire touches ended 38,380 acres total. Beaver Creek began on June 19th, 2016 burning a lot of beetle-kill timber, one cabin, and a few outbuildings. Full containment was obtained within October of 2016.
Within August of 2016 a minor charged with arson was announced as the cause of this fire. The total cost hit around $30 million to repair all damages.
2. Spring Creek Fire — San Luis Valley, 2018
On June 27th, 2018 an illegal campfire was started. The campfire would them quickly get out of control and grow to large enough to hold a spot as the fifth largest fire in Colorado history, having burned 108,045 acres. Jesper Joergensen, a Danish man in the United States on an expired visa, was taken in custody and charged with 349 counts of arson.
The reason behind why Joergensen lit the flame is murky and unclear to this day. Joergensen initially reported to police that he was burning trash, but then switched his story to say it was a cooking fire. Regardless of how exactly the fire came to be within a few days the fire forced 2,000 people to be evacuated. Then, overnight, the fire flared up to 24,000 acres and managed to jump across US Highway 160 on La Veta Pass.
Within four days, the fire was at 41,000 acres and zero containment. The fire was only then declared fully contained on September 10th, as wet weather appeared as a blessing to assist the firefighters increase containment.
3. Hayman Fire — South Park & Colorado Springs 2002
Holding the largest fire in Colorado history until Cameron Peak, the Hayman Fire began on June 8th, 2002 by a US Forest Service employee started a campfire. In total, the fire burned approximately 138,000 acres, holding it at the fourth largest wildfire in Colorado history.
Unlike the first two fires, the exact cause of this fire was known from the start. Terry Lynn Barton, US Forest Service fire prevention technician, was policing campgrounds near Lake George. Barton lite a fire in a campsite ring, it got out of hand incredibly quickly, and the rest is subsequently history. It should be noted that why Barton chose to light the fire in the first place is still debated and scrutinized.
The Hayman Fire was declared controlled on July 2nd, and cost the Forest Service roughly $38 million to simply battle the fire. Not including addition firefighting cost hitting at $200 million. Which, once again, does not include property losses coming in at $48.4 million as 5,340 people were displaced and 350 lost their homes.
4. East Troublesome Fire — Rocky Mountain National Park, 2020
Coming in second place to the Cameron Peak Fire, the East Troublesome Fire began October 14th, 2020 and sits at the second largest wildfire in Colorado history, also burning during the rage of the pandemic. Burning a total of 193,812 acres, the East Troublesome Fire is also human caused, but the exact cause is still under investigation.
Within a single week the East Troublesome Fire, with the help of high winds, was advancing at a rate of 6,000 acres per hour. Within a day the 25,000 acre fire grew to 125,000 acres.
On November 19th the East Troublesome Fire was declared contained, after it had destroyed an estimated 366 redisential buildings and 214 outbuildings. In addition to killing a couple in their eighties who had remained in their home in Grand Lake, while the rest of the communities evacuated.
5. Cameron Peak Fire — Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, 2020
The Cameron Peak Fire is the largest wildfire in Colorado history, which burned 208,913 acres total. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the prime of outdoor season, Cameron Peak created a terribly toxic air quality from the Front Range to Greeley to Denver.
While the exact cause of the Cameron Peak Fire is unsure, it is ruled to be definietly human caused. The initial fire was ignited within forty miles of Fort Collins, reported on August 13th, 2020. The fire was not declared contained until December 13th.
In total the fire destroyed 461 buildings, which included 224 houses. The Cameron Peak Fire made thousands of residents along the Front Range to evacuate.
Wildfires, despite the previous four examples, do not only happen because people are being maliciously inattentive with their campfires. In culmination with a lot of factors, all wildfires need three ingredients to start: ignition, fuel, and oxygen. With desperately dry conditions in the Colorado, during the summer seasons particularly, it is necessary that we all pay close attention to how we interact with nature.
Given that the forest is purely fuel for a fire and oxygen is abundant outdoors, the ignition is the only facet that can be somewhat within our control. Watch your ignition, consider your cigarette, and keep your hot-dog-cooking-fires to only the necessary size.
