Crews fighting to contain blazes in Colorado, Wyoming and California
The Stone Canyon, Lake Shore, Quarry and Alexander Mountain fires are burning amid dry, hot weather affecting the Western United States.
By Annabelle Timsit, Washington Post, Updated August 1, 2024 at 7:49 a.m.
Several wildfires are burning through Colorado’s mountainous Front Range region, threatening popular tourist towns in the foothills as authorities
ordered hundreds of residents to evacuate.
The fires — Stone Canyon, Lake Shore, Quarry and Alexander Mountain — began at various pointsbetween Monday and Wednesday, and have burned through thousands of acres in the counties of Boulder, Jefferson and Larimer around the densely populated mountain range, according to authorities.
The Front Range extends from central Colorado to southern Wyoming, and is part of the Rocky Mountains. Its urban corridor includes cities such as Denver and Boulder that are popular year-round with nature lovers.
Emergency personnel discovered the remains of one person in a residence engulfed by a fire near the town of Lyons, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said Wednesday. Four firefighters were injured while battling the fire and several homes were destroyed, according to the Denver Post.
In Wyoming, firefighters battle uncontained blaze and rattlesnakes
The Pleasant Valley Fire has consumed more than 28,000 acres in Goshen and Platte counties in eastern Wyoming. Firefighters are furiously battling flames, heat and rattlesnakes, but the fire remains 0% contained. [READ MORE]
| ‘It Was Armageddon’: Eastern Wyoming Community Evacuated By Wildfire Hartville and a neighboring subdivision in eastern Wyoming were evacuated overnight Tuesday when a fast-moving wildfire ballooned to more than 25,000 acres. “It was Armageddon,” is how a local woman described watching the flames advance. [READ MORE] |
As wildfires across Wyoming continue to pop up and grow, firefighters shouldn’t expect any help from Mother Nature anytime soon. There won’t be any rain relief for the fires until next week, meteorologist Don Day says. [READ MORE]
California wildfire activity, 2,816% higher this year, already spawned one of the largest in history
By Li Cohen, CBS News
The Park Fire tearing across Northern California is destroying homes and burning up land – and its destruction is only part of a far larger problem this year. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said this week that as of Tuesday, wildfire activity is 2,816% higher than last year for the same time period.
“As of July 30, 2024, wildfires have scorched a staggering 751,327 acres across our state,” Cal Fire wrote on social media on Wednesday. “This year’s wildfire activity is 2,816% higher than last year, 29 times the amount of acreage burned.”
This year’s fires are far above both last year’s numbers and the five-year average, the department found. In 2023, there were 3,746 fires burning 25,763 acres through July 30, while the five-year average for the period is 4,416 fires and 140,996 acres.
As of early Thursday morning, the state is battling 16 active wildfires, including the Park Fire that started just over a week ago after a man was seen pushing a burning car into a ravine. Ronnie Stout, who’s charged with reckless arson, appeared in court for the first time Monday.
So far, the Park Fire has spread across 392,480 acres and four counties, with Cal Fire saying in their latest update that it “continues to burn in heavy, receptive fuel beds.”
It’s at just 18% containment and has grown so much that it is now the fifth-largest wildfire recorded in state history, trailing just behind the SCU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 that burned 396,625 acres.
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