Wildfire
Wildfire smoke drives people in low-vaccinated areas indoors, raising outbreak fears
Smoke and unrelenting heat have driven people to seek refuge at libraries, movie theaters, museums and other indoor venues
The West is baking, burning and drying out. These numbers explain why and how.
"It is a story of cascading impacts," climate scientist John Abatzoglou said, as the West weathers "an epically dry year followed by incredible heat the last two months and now we have fires."
Drier springs bring hotter summers in the withering Southwest
New research reveals a positive feedback loop with negative consequences linked to lower springtime humidity across an already parched landscape
“Fireworks right now are a terrible idea”: Drought woes in the dry West stoke July 4 fire fears
People setting off fireworks at home is a concern because of both the tinder-box conditions ripe for starting wildfires and the threat of injuries.
As wildfires rage in the West, Biden temporarily raises federal firefighter pay to $15/hr
Biden's plan would add or convert to full-time nearly 1,000 firefighters across a host of agencies
Wildlife officials ask anglers not to fish the Dolores River for the first time ever as rain fails to dent Western Slope drought
Fish and wildlife leaders say they have their eye on potential closures of the Animas and San Juan rivers as well.
U.S. seeks to bolster firefighter ranks by boosting pay and benefits as wildfires increase
Officials at National Interagency Fire Center on Tuesday raised the national wildfire preparedness level to 4 on a 1-5 scale, the second earliest dating back to 1990.
Second mudslide from Grizzly Creek burn scar closes I-70 through Glenwood Canyon
Fire managers last summer warned the scar left 32,000-acre fire in and above Glenwood Canyon was a threat to the highway in some areas.
Here are the wildfires currently burning across Colorado
Lightning sparked three of the largest wildfires burning right now in the state
Colorado prison inmates fight wildfires while they’re serving time, but can’t get hired when they get out
A new law signed by Gov. Jared Polis is intended to help former prison inmates who worked on fire crews get jobs in the fire service after release.
20 years of planning saved Rocky Mountain National Park from the worst of the East Troublesome fire. It will take 20 more to fix the damage.
“We’ve been fighting this fire for 20 years,” Rocky Mountain National Park's fire manager says. The work kept two of the largest Colorado wildfires on record from laying waste to the third busiest park in the national system.
Opinion: Climate change is making Rocky Mountain forests more flammable now than at any time in the past 2,000 years
The records of past fires preserved in the sediment of 20 lakes in the central Rocky Mountains showed that areas that used to burn once every 230 years now can be expected to burn every 117 years.
Northwest Colorado under “extremely critical” fire warning for first time in 15 years as Western Slope drought worsens
About 45% of Colorado, all west of the Continental Divide, now in some state of drought
Grim western fire season starts much drier than 2020’s record year
A climate change-fueled megadrought of more than 20 years is making conditions that lead to fire even more dangerous
Nearly half of Colorado emerges from drought conditions while Western Slope remains dry and at risk for fire
Precipitation has quenched 48% of the state even as the Western Slope dries out
Colorado-based Global SuperTanker firefighting plane may be sold to assist COVID-19 response
Domestically, the SuperTanker has been used mostly in California and in Oregon in 2018
Colorado-based Global Supertanker, the world’s largest firefighting plane, is shut down as fire season begins
The Global SuperTanker is a converted Boeing 747 plane that can dump up to 19,200 gallons of water or flame retardant in just six seconds
Matriarch of Colorado outdoor volunteerism stepping down from “mothership of community stewardship”
Ann Baker Easley has served nearly 40 years growing and wrangling a network of volunteers across Colorado. She’s retiring from Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado as funds flow and volunteers waitlists grow.
Colorado is expecting another explosive wildfire year, but the state may be more prepared this time
The state’s Wildfire Preparedness Plan, released Thursday, notes that even as 2021 is shaping up to repeat the chaos of last year, agencies are collaborating more and have better support.