Firefighters at the Pine Gulch fire near Grand Junction
© HandoutFirefighters at the Pine Gulch fire near Grand Junction.
The Pine Gulch fire has become the largest blaze in Colorado history, having torched more than 139,000 acres.

Incident command provided an updated size for the fire near Grand Junction on Thursday night.

The blaze is now larger than the 2002 Hayman fire west of Colorado Springs, which burned roughly 138,000 acres and destroyed 133 homes. The Hayman fire, which was previously the state's largest wildland blaze, was also blamed for several deaths.

The Pine Gulch fire has not destroyed any homes or caused any injuries, but firefighters have been battling it for about a month. It started on July 31 and was ignited by lightning.

The fire was 77% contained as of Thursday evening.

Three other major fires are burning in Colorado. No homes have been destroyed or injuries reported from any of them.


The Grizzly Creek fire near Glenwood Springs has burned more than 32,300 acres and is 61% contained. The blaze shut down Interstate 70 for 12 days.

The Williams Fork fire in Grand County has burned about 12,000 acres and is 5% contained.

The Cameron Peak fire west of Fort Collins has burned 22,800 acres and is 0% contained.

Weeks of hot and dry weather, attributed to climate change, have left Colorado a tinderbox. The entire state is listed as being under some drought status.