Colorado Fires Continue to Rage Amid Historic Wildfire Season

By Dana Cruz Oct 20 2020, 05:11 AM EDT

Colorado fire crews continue to battle raging wildfires amid the historic, record-breaking fire season in the western U.S.

There were at least four new wildfires that sparked in Colorado and Utah over the weekend. More than 8.3 million acres have already burned, said the National Fire Interagency Center.

The largest wildfire in Colorado history, the Cameron Peak fire, also sparked lately. It blazed alongside the CalWood, and Lefthand Canyon wildfires in Boulder County, said CNN in a report.

Cameron Peak has already torched down over 204,000 acres through two national forests and dropped to 51 percent containment on Monday night.

The U.S. Forest Service told USA Today that the gusty winds and dry conditions fueled the fire's growth. By Monday afternoon, fire aircraft was grounded due to the cloudy conditions and poor visibility.

Sheriff Justin Smith of Larimer County assembled 10 assessment teams to look into the damage brought by the recent bouts of wildfires, said a Facebook post.

"It just exploded," Boulder County Sheriff's Office Division Chief Mike Wagner told the New York Times.

Wagner added that the county is lacking firefighting resources because of the number of fires across the West.

Calwood and Lefthand Wildfires

The CalWood Fire is moving fast in the foothills of Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Since starting in Boulder County Saturday, the fire grew to nearly 9,000 acres, with only 17 percent containment. About 3,000 people were forced to evacuate over the weekend, including Jamestown and Rockies residents.

Wagner said Sunday that it is the biggest wildfire in the county's history. "It's the largest our community has ever seen," he said.

As of Monday afternoon, fire crews reported that there was minimal fire movement so far. They added that they were also "successful in constructing and patrolling lines."

There were at least 26 homes burned in the affected area. But Wagner said he believed that there were more homes scorched. He added that there might be more structures that can't be reached within the burn area.

Assessment teams will go back to reassess the damage to get a more accurate count that the sheriff's department can report out.

The homes that have been destroyed so far have been posted on the Boulder OEM website, said Wagner.

About 250 fire crew members were on the field fending off the fire on Sunday, said Wagner. "They're gonna continue to construct a direct fire line which I spoke around the perimeter of the fire to secure it," he assured.

More resources to fight the fires are expected to arrive Sunday. A federal firefighting team was expected to take over command of the CalWood fire by Monday Morning, said Wagner.

Several Wildfires Burn Across Colorado — Alex Edelman/Getty Images

Lefthand Canyon Fire, the second one that erupted Sunday, happened 15 miles southwest of Jamestown, according to Boulder OEM. Another 150 homes needed to leave the perimeter of the fires.

In hours, the Lefthand Canyon fire burned down more than 300 acres, said Wagner. It is only four percent contained as of Monday afternoon.

The wildfires that sparked in Colorado are just among some of the 60 major fires burned in the Western U.S.

In California, the situation hit the state very hard. Dozens of wildfires have raged in recent months.

Lightning storms ignited hundreds of these blazes, some growing into the largest in modern California history. There were over 4.1 million acres burned in California, killing at least 31 people.