OMG: 77 Large Fires Burning 649,054 Acres in 14 States, says National Multi Agency Coordinating Group

Pine Gulch fire grows to 125,252 acres — now 2nd largest in Colorado’s recorded history

From an Article by Sam Tabachnik, Denver Post, August 19, 2020

Firefighters worked during the night battling the Pine Gulch fire. New evacuations were ordered on fire’s northwest side on Wednesday.

The Pine Gulch fire north of Grand Junction exploded early Wednesday morning, growing 42% in size to become the second-largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history — prompting new evacuations.

The fire grew from 87,778 acres, or about 136 square miles, when it was measured Tuesday evening to 125,108 acres, or 195 square miles, by Wednesday morning. It only increased in size by 144 acres during the day Wednesday, during which time firefighters increased containment from 7% to 14%.

Pine Gulch is one of four major wildfires burning across Colorado, as hot temperatures, low relative humidity and drought conditions have melded to create a ripe environment for fire growth. It’s part of a 20-year cycle of dryness in the region that has led to more expansive wildfires, including all 10 of the largest fires in the state’s recorded history.

And it comes as enormous wildfires spring up daily across the arid West amid climate warming caused by decades of fossil-fuel usage around the globe.

Pine Gulch’s expansion continued Wednesday to the west, leading to evacuation orders and pre-evacuation notices for rural residents tucked between the fire and the Utah border, as well as the closure of multiple county roads.

Strong outflow winds from a thunderstorm cell late Tuesday and early Wednesday caused winds up to 40 mph over several hours, creating “extreme and erratic fire behavior, causing significant growth,” officials said. It had been measured at 87,778 acres, or about 136 square miles, on Tuesday evening.

The storm aligned with drainages and gulches, and combined with fuels as dry as paper to cause flames to hop from one gulch to the next, with embers expelled 2,500 feet ahead of the main body of the wildfire, said Tracy LeClair, spokeswoman for the Pine Gulch Fire Authority.

Firefighters were given enough of a heads up by their meteorologist to avoid getting caught between the two burning areas, LeClair said.

“It’s definitely not going to get smaller,” LeClair said. But crews have made good progress on the northeast and southeast side of the fire, she said, allowing people to return home along the 204 Road. “That all is looking good,” LeClair said. “We’re optimistic about that part of it.”

It’s the west side of the fire where firefighters are working to prevent the flames from crossing containment lines, LeClair said. The concern remains that potential for afternoon thunderstorms — minus the rain — could bring strong enough winds to prevent air tankers and helicopters from aiding in fire suppression, she said.

As firefighters battle flames on the Western Slope, crews continue to fight growing fires near Glenwood Canyon and in Larimer and Grand counties.

Becky Bolinger, the assistant state climatologist, said Tuesday that the chance for relief from the hot, dry weather is slim in the near term. “We should be having a pretty beneficial monsoonal flow right now, which we’re not getting. We’re trapped under this painful ridge of high pressure, which is giving us this near-record heat,” Bolinger said. “There is nothing in the indicators that say the drought would improve in the next week or next couple of weeks.”

And the wildfires aren’t just raging across Colorado. Twenty-two new large fires were reported yesterday across the country, with 77 large fires burning 649,054 acres in 14 states, according to the National Multi Agency Coordinating Group.

In light of the growing disasters, the national group on Tuesday moved the National Preparedness Level to 5, the highest rung. The move increases national mobilization to help local agencies and areas move into emergency measures.

LeClair said she “would never say never” that resources could be pulled from the Pine Gulch firefighting efforts to help elsewhere, but that given the size of the fire, “we’re one of the highest priorities in the nation.”

“With us moving up in the the hierarchy in Colorado history, I would say we will stay at very high priority,” she said.

Sam Tabachnik | Reporter for the Denver Post

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See also: What’s in that wildfire smoke, and why is it so bad for your lungs? Luke Montrose, The Conversation, August 20, 2020