The Cameron Peak Fire raging in Colorado surpassed 200,000 acres over the weekend.
The fire is now the largest in Colorado history, according to a report published Sunday by the Denver Post. As of Monday, the wildfire was 62% contained, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group reported.
Oh my gosh. From Estes Park today at 6:30pm ???????????? #CameronPeakFire #Colorado pic.twitter.com/u1rnfOy25C
— Megh (@meghahan) October 15, 2020
“Dry and windy conditions may increase fire activity in the afternoon today,” Monday’s update said. “The focus will remain on completing containment objectives on the southeast corner and around the spot fire. Fire officials are scouting for opportunities to create a fireline from The Retreat to Storm Mountain to protect values at risk. Night shift tonight will continue around the clock to progress towards completing suppression objectives.” (RELATED: California’s Wildfires Have Burned Enough Carbon To Power Roughly 23 Coal Plants For One Year, Estimates Show)
Fire officials don’t expect the fire to travel any further East, spokesman Dave Stephan told the outlet.
View over Loveland, CO. #CameronPeakFire pic.twitter.com/k8rE0MOoRO
— Brad Roths (@bdroths) October 14, 2020
“One thing we have talked about, if the fire did progress east, as you get down off the foothills, there are a lot more open areas, it’s a lot more grassy, so you don’t have all the dead timber you do at higher elevations. So that is a buffer, and you have Horsetooth Reservoir as well.”
Colorado has seen increased wildfires this season due to record temperatures, low relative humidity and statewide drought, the Denver Post reported. The Cameron Peak Fire surpassed the Pine Gulch fire, which also occurred this year, to become the largest Colorado wildfire in history. That fire burned roughly 139,000 acres near Grand Junction.