3 of the largest wildfires in Colorado history occurred in 2020

On Thursday, Rocky Mountain National Park was closed to visitors after a turbulent fire in the east jumped into the continental divide and burned in the west side of the park.

The fire led to forced evictions on Thursday in parts of Estes Park, a town of 6,000 people in the Rocky Mountains. Residents of the small town of Grand Lake were ordered to leave on Wednesday as the fires continued to burn.

There are some concerns that the flames will merge into a single fire, but Noel Livingston, East Fire Leader, said he doesn’t see that happening now.

“But it is possible,” he said during a press briefing Thursday. Colorado. “And definitely this year has been one of those years where it seems that those low-potential events are occurring at a high rate. A fire of this magnitude is moving at this point in October is a very low event in terms of what we expect and this happened. So, I don’t want to say that it cannot be. Happening. But at the moment, it doesn’t look like it will. “

The Pine Gulch fire, which was once the largest wildfire in the state before its magnitude exceeded the Cameron Peak fires and the annoying fires of the East, is the only major fire this year that has been 100% contained. The fires burned just over 139,000 acres before full containment on September 24. The fire started on July 31.

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California is also experiencing an unprecedented bushfire season, with more than 4 million acres burned this year. The state is currently battling 19 forest fires, 12 of which are still a major accident, according to A. Thursday update By California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Parts of Northern California remain under red flag warnings.

More than 450,000 acres are currently burning in Colorado, according to Colorado. Experts say climate change and the accumulation of dead and arid prairie plants have contributed to this year’s fires in the West.