The Pine Gulch Fire: briefly Colorado's largest

Sparked by lightning on July 31, 2020, the Pine Gulch Fire briefly held the title of largest wildfire in Colorado history in August 2020 before Cameron Peak surpassed it weeks later.

Overview

Burning across rugged, sparsely populated BLM rangeland about 18 miles north of Grand Junction, Pine Gulch grew to 139,007 acres. Its remoteness meant that despite its enormous footprint it destroyed only a single outbuilding and caused no deaths.

Why it mattered

Pine Gulch became an early signal of the record-shattering 2020 season, the first of three fires that year to rank among the largest in state history. It illustrates an important point: acreage alone doesn't equal destruction. Where a fire burns matters as much as how big it gets.

Lessons

What the Pine Gulch Fire teaches Colorado homeowners

Every major Colorado fire reinforces the same lesson: the homes most likely to survive are the ones prepared before a fire starts. Its near-zero structure loss in open country contrasts sharply with the catastrophic home losses of fires that reached the wildland-urban interface. 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.

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.