The Bobcat Gulch Fire foreshadowed the larger High Park Fire in the same area a dozen years later.
Started by an abandoned campfire in June 2000 near Drake, the fire burned about 10,600 acres and destroyed 22 structures in the foothills west of Loveland, the same general area that would burn again in the 2012 High Park Fire.
Every major Colorado fire reinforces the same lesson: the homes most likely to survive are the ones prepared before a fire starts. Repeated fires in the same terrain show that mitigation isn’t one-and-done, it’s ongoing. Creating defensible space, hardening the home against embers, and documenting the work for insurance and grant funding are the highest-leverage steps a homeowner can take.
Homeowners in the Drake and Loveland foothills can get a free assessment from our Loveland and Northern Colorado teams.
Not sure where your property stands? Check your wildfire risk score in under a minute, watch for new starts on the active fires map, and set up emergency fire alerts so you never miss an evacuation order.
The Hi Meadow Fire (2000) burned ~10,500 acres near Bailey, destroying 51 homes. An early Colorado wildland-urban interface wake-up call.
Read the overviewThe High Park Fire (2012) burned 87,284 acres west of Fort Collins, destroyed 259 homes and killed one. Cause, timeline and aftermath.
Read the overviewThe Cameron Peak Fire (2020) burned 208,913 acres in Larimer County, the largest wildfire in Colorado history. Size, cause, homes destroyed, timeline and aftermath.
Read the overviewThe complete, searchable record of every major Colorado wildfire in history.
Open the full guideAbout 10,600 acres near Drake in Larimer County.
An abandoned campfire.
