DENVER – The Spring Fire burning in southern Colorado is now the third-largest fire the state has ever seen.
Fire officials said Wednesday morning that the fire burning east of Fort Garland was estimated at slightly more than 94,000 acres. The fire has destroyed over 100 homes since it began June 27 and more than 2,000 others have been evacuated.
A Danish man was taken into custody in connection to the fire and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) put an immigration detainer on the man, identified as Jesper Jorgensen, 52, following his arrest.
The largest fire Colorado has ever seen was in 2002 when the Hayman Fire burned more than 138,000 acres across several counties. The next largest, 2013’s West Fork Complex, was actually a collection of smaller fires that together burned nearly 110,000 acres.
Three of Colorado’s largest wildfires have occurred in 2018.
Here are the 10 largest fires in Colorado history, ranked by acreage:
1. Hayman Fire (2002): 138,114 acres
2. West Fork Complex (2013): Several fires with a combined 109,632 acres
3. Spring Fire (2018): 94,000+ acres as of July 4
4. High Park Fire (2012): 87,284 acres
5. Missionary Ridge Fire (2002): 72,962 acres
6. 416 Fire (2018): 53,000+ acres as of July 4
7. Bridger Fire (2008): 45,800 acres
8. Last Chance Fire (2012): 45,000 acres
9. Bear Springs/Callie Marie fires (2011): 44,662 acres
10. 117 Fire (2018): 41,000 acres
It’s worth noting that some of the state’s most destructive fires, such as the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012 and the Black Forest Fire in 2013, were smaller in size but claimed more structures than the fires listed above. Those two fires were 18,247 acres and 14,280 acres, respectively.