2020Largest ever
Cameron Peak Fire
Larimer County · Arapaho-Roosevelt NF
208,913 acres
The largest wildfire in Colorado history, 112 days of burning west of Fort Collins, from August into December.
Read the full overviewCameron Peak Fire, 2020 (Larimer County)
Marshall Fire, 2021 (Boulder County)
South Canyon / Storm King, 1994
Marshall Fire, 2021
† Hayman's five deaths were firefighters killed in a vehicle crash en route to the fire, not on the fireline, some tallies record them separately. Acreage and structure counts use the most authoritative figure available; the West Fork Complex is shown combined (Colorado DFPC lists its West Fork and Papoose components separately).
Filter by decade or search by name, county, or cause. Each entry shows final acreage, homes lost, deaths and ignition cause.
Larimer County · Arapaho-Roosevelt NF
The largest wildfire in Colorado history, 112 days of burning west of Fort Collins, from August into December.
Read the full overviewGrand & Larimer Counties
Grew 100,000+ acres in a single night and leaped the Continental Divide toward Estes Park. Colorado's 2nd-largest.
Read the full overviewMesa & Garfield Counties
Briefly Colorado's largest fire ever before Cameron Peak, yet destroyed just one outbuilding on remote BLM land.
Read the full overviewRio Blanco County · NW Colorado
The largest fire since 2020, threatening ranchland and natural-gas infrastructure southwest of Meeker.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · Louisville & Superior
The most destructive fire in Colorado history, a wind-driven suburban grass fire on Dec 30 that leveled whole neighborhoods. $2B+ in losses.
Read the full overviewGlenwood Canyon · Garfield/Eagle
Shut down Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon for two weeks and triggered debris flows that closed it again in 2021.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · near Jamestown
The largest fire in Boulder County history at the time, burning fast in mid-October during the record 2020 season.
Read the full overviewGrand County · near Fraser
One of five major 2020 fires; threatened Winter Park and burned in the Fraser Experimental Forest.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · Table Mesa
Threatened south Boulder months after Marshall, but defensible space and fuel breaks held. A widely cited mitigation success.
Read the full overviewLarimer County · west of Loveland
The largest of the late-July 2024 Front Range cluster; about 3,200 people evacuated west of Loveland.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · near Lyons
Small but deadly, one resident died and four firefighters were injured during the 2024 Front Range outbreak.
Read the full overviewJefferson County · SW of Denver
Forced foothills evacuations close to the Denver metro and was investigated as arson.
Read the full overviewLarimer County · west of Fort Collins
At the time, the most destructive fire in state history by homes lost; one resident died west of Fort Collins.
Read the full overviewEl Paso County · Colorado Springs
Briefly the most destructive in state history; the first fire to burn into Colorado Springs neighborhoods.
Read the full overviewEl Paso County · NE of Colorado Springs
The most destructive Colorado fire by homes until Marshall (2021). Two residents died while evacuating.
Read the full overviewJefferson County · SW of Denver
An escaped state prescribed burn that killed three residents and forced Colorado to overhaul controlled-burn policy.
Read the full overviewMineral & Hinsdale · San Juan Mtns
A massive high-elevation complex burning beetle-killed spruce, among the largest ever with almost no structure loss.
Read the full overviewCostilla & Huerfano · La Veta Pass
An arson fire and the largest of the 2018 season, destroying roughly 141 homes in southern Colorado.
Read the full overviewLa Plata County · north of Durango
Sparked by embers from a coal-burning tourist train; the railroad later paid the federal government $20 million.
Read the full overviewEagle County · near Basalt
Started by tracer rounds at a shooting range during a fire ban; threatened Basalt and the Roaring Fork Valley.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · west of Boulder
The most destructive and costliest fire in state history at the time, from an improperly extinguished fire pit.
Read the full overviewChaffee & Saguache · near Salida
A high-elevation fire that burned into late October, illustrating Colorado's lengthening fire season.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · near Nederland
Small but high-profile, about 2,000 people evacuated, and an abandoned campfire led to criminal charges.
Read the full overviewFremont County · near Cañon City
Destroyed dozens of structures at the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, a major Colorado tourist attraction.
Read the full overviewPark · Teller · Douglas · Jefferson
Colorado's largest fire for nearly two decades, set by a U.S. Forest Service worker during a burn ban.
Read the full overviewLa Plata County · NE of Durango
A defining fire of Colorado's catastrophic 2002 drought season; a firefighter was killed by a falling tree.
Read the full overviewCuster & Pueblo · near Beulah
A National Fire Plan success story, earlier fuel treatments stopped its spread into nearby subdivisions.
Read the full overviewPark & Jefferson · near Bailey
Burned alongside Bobcat Gulch in 2000, together an early signal of the growing wildland-urban-interface threat.
Read the full overviewLarimer County · near Drake
A precursor to the 2012 High Park Fire in the same area, showing wildland-urban interface vulnerability west of Loveland.
Read the full overviewGarfield County · near Glenwood Springs
The deadliest wildfire in Colorado history, 14 firefighters died when the fire blew up, reshaping national firefighter safety.
Read the full overviewJefferson County · South Platte watershed
An early lesson in catastrophic post-fire flooding, deadly flash floods later swept the burn scar in a key Denver watershed.
Read the full overviewBoulder County · Sugarloaf area
The most destructive wildfire of its era and a landmark national case study that shaped Boulder County's wildland-urban interface building codes.
Read the full overviewEvery one of Colorado's 20 largest wildfires on record has burned since 2000, and the three biggest ever all burned in 2020.
Cameron Peak, East Troublesome and Pine Gulch together scorched more than half a million acres in a single season.
Roughly 2.5–2.9 million people live in the wildland-urban interface, with over 1 million in elevated-risk areas.
The Western fire season runs about 78 days longer than in the 1970s, Colorado now faces fire risk nearly year-round.
From Black Tiger in 1989 to NCAR in 2022, the pattern is consistent: defensible space and a hardened home are what stop an ember from becoming a total loss. Here's where to start.
Get an instant wildfire risk score for your exact address, built on federal hazard data.
Check My Home's Fire Risk ScoreTrack active wildfires across Colorado in real time on our live fire map.
Open the active fires mapDefensible space, home hardening, and the grants, credits and insurance help that pay for it.
Explore fundingThe Cameron Peak Fire of 2020, at 208,913 acres. It burned for 112 days west of Fort Collins in Larimer County. Colorado's three largest fires ever, Cameron Peak, East Troublesome, and Pine Gulch, all burned in 2020.
The Marshall Fire of December 30, 2021, which destroyed 1,084 homes and 7 commercial buildings in Boulder County despite burning only about 6,000 acres. It was a wind-driven grass fire in the suburban wildland-urban interface and caused more than $2 billion in losses.
The 1994 South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, which killed 14 wildland firefighters when the fire blew up and overran them. It reshaped national wildland firefighter safety training and standards.
By most measures, yes. All 20 of Colorado's largest wildfires on record have occurred since 2000, the three largest ever all burned in 2020, and the Western fire season is roughly 78 days longer than in the 1970s. The Marshall Fire showed even a 6,000-acre grass fire can destroy over a thousand homes.
Create defensible space, harden the home (Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, a noncombustible 0–5 foot zone), and document the work for insurance and funding. Start by checking your wildfire risk score, then get a professional on-site assessment.