The two largest wildfires in Colorado’s recorded history have destroyed more than 300 homes and hundreds of additional structures, including detached garages, barns and sheds.
The Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires were among the Colorado wildfires blanketed in snow and tamed by wintery weather on Sunday and Monday. The pause brought by the storm allowed firefighters and other emergency responders to access areas that had been off limit to conduct structure-damage assessments.
Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin on Tuesday said assessment team members have identified “about 100 or so” homes destroyed by the East Troublesome fire in a new round of assessments over the past couple of days, efforts that are still ongoing.
“We’re finding more every direction we turn around,” Schroetlin said.
In Larimer County, sheriff’s officials have confirmed the Cameron Peak fire destroyed 426 structures, including 209 residences and 108 out buildings. Twenty-four of the destroyed homes are primary residences; the rest are vacation homes or part-time dwellings.
Assessment crews are engaged in the difficult process of determining whether burned structures are homes, out-buildings or things such as detached garages, sheds and barns. And while the snow, up to a foot in some areas, has allowed access to the fire area, it’s also slowing down the assessment process by making travel slower and slick.
“The snow is making it really hard,” Schroetlin said.
Noel Livingston, the East Troublesome fire incident commander, said the wildfire has been impacted by the snow and that it’s “not trying to move. It’s been a good quiet couple of days.”
The fire does remain “active” in spots west of U.S. 34, fire officials said.
The East Troublesome fire, the second-largest fire in Colorado history, has burned 192,560 acres, just more than 300 square miles, and is 20% contained, fire officials said. The fire started on Oct. 14 north of Hot Sulphur Springs.
“We are not going to turn our back on this,” said Randy Johnson, deputy fire incident commander, in a Tuesday briefing.
At the Cameron Peak fire, the largest recorded wildfire in state history, snow that started Sunday continued until about midday Monday.
“The snow was not a season-ending event” for the fire, “but a season-slowing event,” fire officials said in a Tuesday update. “Fire activity decreased in the past few days but could become more active as temperatures increase later in the week.”
The storm brought between 15 and 20 inches of snow to areas of the fire burning in Larimer County. Firefighters plan to work on expanding and strengthening containment lines on the southern edge of the fire. They are also working with the sheriff’s office on allowing access to homes and properties.
The Cameron Peak fire has burned 208,663 acres, just more than 326 square miles, and is 64% contained.
Structure assessments continue on the Cameron Peak fire, which started on Aug. 13 about 15 miles southwest of Red Feather Lakes.
Wildfire map
Click markers for details, use buttons to change what wildfires are shown. Map data is automatically updated by government agencies and could lag real-time events. Incident types are numbered 1-5 — a type 1 incident is a large, complex wildfire affecting people and critical infrastructure, a type 5 incident is a small wildfire with few personnel involved. Find more information about incident types at the bottom of this page.
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Colorado wildfire update: Cameron Peak, East Troublesome fires destroyed more than 300 homes - The Denver Post
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