Largest Colorado Wildfire Portends a Grim Future
The Cameron Peak fire is now officially the largest Colorado wildfire on record, destroying over 200,000 acres as of the time of this writing, and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. Thanks to dry weather and windy conditions, the fire has been extremely difficult to extinguish. In fact, as of mid-October 2020, the fire had been burning for 2 months and is only 55% contained, down from 56% contained last week. Clearly, progress is proving to be elusive.
Is this Representative of the Future of Colorado Wildfire Activity?
Unfortunately, whether we’re talking about California, Oregon or Colorado wildfire activity, recent trends suggest that the growing fire problem is not likely to go away any time soon. Thanks to climate change, conditions that are ideal for fire-spread will remain with us for the foreseeable future. Making matters worse is that identifying the root cause of some fires has proven difficult. In fact, the cause of the Cameron Peak fire is still unknown.
The current Colorado wildfire has from time-to-time been so intense that rare “smokenados” have been spotted (similar to a smoke tornado or fire tornado). This phenomenon occurs when smoke and ash are caught in an intense updraft caused by the extreme heat of the fire.
All told, as of October 2020, there were 11 wildfires simultaneously burning in the state, all of which are proving difficult to control. The only saving grace is that snowfall season is rapidly approaching, which should dampen even the worst of the current Colorado wildfire activity.
It’s obvious that utility companies in the western U.S. need to up the ante when it comes to emergency preparedness. These fires are massive, fast-moving, and increasingly frequent, and they will happen at an increased rate over time.
California utilities are the farthest along in dealing with this new reality, and utilities in other nearby states will need to learn from their experience. There’s little doubt that the Colorado wildfire problem will be something that the state’s utilities will need to reckon with for decades to come.
