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Friday, Mar. 7, 2025

Are wildfires becoming more frequent in Colorado?

Por Jaijongkit, The Colorado Sun
yes

The number of wildfires in Colorado more than doubled in the past 20 years, from an average of 3,400 fires per year between 2000-2003 to roughly 7,200 fires per year between 2020-2023. 

Colorado’s 20 largest wildfires all occurred after 2001. The Cameron Peak fire in 2020 was the state’s largest, burning over 200,000 acres in Larimer and Jackson counties and Rocky Mountain National Park. The most destructive was the Marshall fire in 2021, which destroyed roughly 1,100 homes in Boulder County. Historically, Colorado’s major fires were limited to summers. Today, Colorado experiences large fires throughout the year. 

While there are no clear nationwide trends regarding wildfire frequency, the Southwestern U.S.— Colorado included — has seen larger, more frequent and more destructive wildfires. Drier climates, logging, shrinking snowpack and previous fire suppression policies have left forests vulnerable to burning. Human development in wildland areas is also a factor. 

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The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

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