High Park fire
The High Park fire was a wildfire in the mountains west of Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. It was caused by a lightning strike and was first detected on the morning of June 9, 2012. It was declared 100 percent contained on June 30, 2012, and all associated evacuation orders were lifted. Disambiguation. In 2022 there was another fire called "High Park Fire." That fire started on 05/12/2022 6 miles west of Cripple Creek Colorado. The size at 89% containment (last report) was 1,572 acres. Since wildland fire names are typically assigned by personnel on the fire and often based on local knowledge, it is not unusual to have more than one fire with the same name.
| High Park Fire | |
|---|---|
June 10th satellite image by NASA | |
| Date(s) | June 9, 2012 – June 30, 2012 |
| Location | Roosevelt National Forest, Larimer County, Colorado |
| Coordinates | 40.589°N 105.404°W |
| Statistics | |
| Burned area | 87,284 acres (353 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Structures destroyed | 259 |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Map | |
A 62-year-old woman was killed in the fire.
The High Park fire burned over 87,284 acres (136.381 sq mi; 353.23 km2), at the time it was the second-largest fire in recorded Colorado history by area burned. On the evening of August 18, 2020 the Pine Gulch Fire in Mesa and Garfield Counties grew to 125,108 acres overnight surpassing the High Park fire. It destroyed at least 259 homes, compared to the Black Forest Fire with a number of 511 homes, surpassing the number consumed by the 2010 Fourmile Canyon fire. The High Park fire became the third most destructive fire in Colorado history, in terms of the number of houses burned, but was surpassed about a week later by the Waldo Canyon fire.