2024 Colorado wildfires


The 2024 Colorado wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned in the U.S. state of Colorado during 2024.

Background

While "fire season" varies every year in Colorado, most wildfires occur in between May and September, but there is a fire risk year-round. Large wildfires have become more common mostly because of drought, high winds, and vegetation growth. Climate change has increased temperatures and decreased humidity in Colorado and sometimes reduces spring snowmelt, both of which contribute to fire conditions.

Summary

By early August, Colorado tallied a substantial share of wildfire activity across the western United States, with the Front Range region particularly hard hit. The Bucktail Fire, which began on August 1 in Montrose County, ultimately burned 7,202 acres, making it the second-largest blaze of the season and causing criminal charges when it was found to have been accidentally started during an attempt to cremate a dog. Even earlier, the Spruce Creek Fire, ignited by lightning in mid-May near Dolores, charred 5,699 acres—the season's first major wildfire—before being fully contained by the end of May.
That spring and summer period was marked by volatile conditions, with rapid fire spread spurred by dry fuels, high winds, and low humidity. The Alexander Mountain Fire, which started near Loveland in late July, burned over 9,000 acres and destroyed dozens of homes, prompting aggressive containment strategies including backburning near Drake. Another grim development occurred along the Front Range, where the Stone Canyon Fire, at roughly 1,500 acres, killed one person and destroyed five structures, leading officials to caution that resources were stretched thin across multiple simultaneous incidents.

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than, or produced significant structural damage or casualties.
NameCountyAcresStart dateContainment dateNotesRef
Range 153El Paso1,81625 2 20245 3 2024Human-caused about southwest of Fountain.
Range 135El Paso7,74429 2 20245 3 2024
BoggsvilleBent1,0622 3 202418 3 2024Burned about south of Las [Animas, Colorado|Las Animas]. Closed State Highway 101 and U.S. Route 50 and prompted evacuations for Las Animas.
Range 127El Paso1,13215 4 202413 5 2024Human-caused. Burned near Fort Carson.
Spruce CreekMontezuma5,69914 5 202431 5 2024Caused by lightning northeast of Dolores.
Rabbit ValleyMesa1,50517 6 202420 6 2024Burned near Utah border
Oak RidgePueblo, Custer1,31022 6 202424 7 2024Caused by lightning northeast of Beulah.
104Weld1,78228 7 202431 7 2024
Alexander Mountain#2024 [Alexander Mountain Fire|Alexander Mountain]Larimer9,66829 7 202417 8 2024
Stone CanyonBoulder1,55730 7 20244 8 2024Burned outside of Lyons. Destroyed six structure and killed one person. Undetermined cause.
BucktailMontrose7,0781 8 202421 8 2024Started by a man attempting to cremate his dog. Damaged one structure.
Big GulchMoffat1,1647 8 20249 8 2024Likely caused by lightning.
Wildhorse 5Weld1,20029 9 20241 10 2024Human-caused. Burned north of Briggsdale in Pawnee National Grassland.