Current Wildfires in Colorado

There are eleven wildfires burning in the state of Colorado at the moment.  That doesn't count the small fire that broke out in some trees yesterday afternoon in the city limits of Littleton.  In that fire, named the Wildland, someone tossed a cigarette butt without it being "out"; the resultant fire burned through four back yards and destroyed a garage, plus some adult trees.  Sheer carelessness and stupidity caused that half-acre fire.  Luckily, it was spotted quickly and two fire units were able to put the fire completely out.
   The 20 acre Golf Course fire at Grand Lake is 100 % contained.  It is still smoldering, but is not capable of spreading any further.
   The Badger Creek fire, which straddles the Colorado and Wyoming state borders, has burned 21,176 acres, and has 80 %  containment.
   The High Chateau fire, which is west of Wright's Reservoir and northeast of Cripple Creek, now has 75 % containment. It has consumed 1,400 acres so far.
   The Turret fire, at last report yesterday morning, had burned 6 acres and was 10 % contained.  That fire is located 21 miles northeast of Glenwood Springs.
  The Burro fire is burning in the San Juan National Forest, 14 miles south of Rico.  It is now 40 % contained, and has burned 4,415 acres.
   The Sugarloaf fire is located 13 miles southwest of Fraser, and has consumed 1,200 acres with no containment.
   The 416 fire continues to spread, 10 miles south of Durango.  It has burned 54,128 acres so far, and fire crews have reached a 45 % containment working for the past month.
   The Weston Pass fire has damaged one home and one out building, while burning 10,727 acres.  It is located 9 miles southwest of Fairplay, and has 5 % containment.
   The Adobe fire, 5 miles west of Wetmore in Custer County, has consumed 85 acres.  It has 0 % containment, and was started by lightning.
   The Lake Christine fire has 0 % containment, and had burned 2,377 acres.  It is burning west of the Basalt Gun Range, and it was started by the use of tracer bullets on the gun range.  Police are interviewing folks who were at the range when the fire began.
   Then there is the Spring fire.  It is burning in two counties (Costilla and Huerfano).  It is only 5 % contained, and has been burning for a month.  The fire has consumed 104 homes, and burned over 95,740 acres.  It was started by a homeless man, who had built a fire pit to cook some meat.  The man is a visitor from Denmark, and can't get a legal job in the United States because his Visa to the USA expired quite some time ago.  So Jesper Jorgenson has been panhandling and camping out on open, nationally owned lands.  He admits his fire pit was the beginning of the Spring fire....  What destruction this man hath wrought.....
    So, let's see - the total acreage burning and burned is at 191,284, which converts to 298.88 square miles. That means that almost 3.5 % of the state of Colorado is burning or has burned over the past month.  No wonder it's smoky and hazy.  No wonder folks with allergies and COPD are having a difficult time breathing.

   

Please be extremely careful with fire!