Cameron Peak Wildfire Causes Mandatory Evacuation, Third Largest In Colorado History

Around 3 a.m. on Wednesday in Colorado, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Buckhorn Road (Larimer County Road 27) from Larimer County Road 44H south to Masonville due to the raging flames from the Cameron Peak wildfire.

National Weather Service (NWS) radar imagery revealed that the Cameron Peak fire began to flare up around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The LCSO initially issued a voluntary evacuation order for the area around 2:30 a.m., but an hour later, they made it mandatory.

The Denver Channel reported that the Cameron Peak Fire is the third-largest wildfire in Colorado history. The list was ranked based on the acres of land blazes have affected.

So far, the Cameron Peak Fire has spread across a reported 134,960 acres. Colorado’s second-largest wildfire was the Hayman Fire in 2002, which spread across 137,760 acres. The state’s largest fire was the Pine Gulch Fire, which started on July 31 and burned around 139,007 acres of land.

On Tuesday, Tony Mueller, a fire planning operations trainee revealed firefighters were worried about the high winds that were expected to hit the area. “Our biggest concern today (and Wednesday) is the forecast wind,” Mueller explained.

“Those winds will impact the CSU Mountain Campus area. That is of great concern not only from the fire standpoint but for the safety of our firefighters with the amount of fuel and number of standing dead trees that could come over in 50 mph-plus winds.”

The NWS predicts the fire will continue to spread on Wednesday due to the expected dry and windy conditions. Due to the smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire, Laramie County has issued an Air Quality Alert.