Some media outlets have reported that the 416 Fire is the fifth largest in Colorado history.
That does not seem to be accurate, according to the data Next has from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and the Colorado State Forest Service.
As of Wednesday afternoon, estimates put the size of the 416 Fire, which is north of Durango, at more than 27,000 acres. That makes this Colorado's fourteenth largest fire in history. It's bigger, but far less destructive than the devastating 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire that took out hundreds of homes.
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In terms of sheer size, the 416 Fire is about half the acreage of the fifth largest in state history, the 2012 Last Chance Fire - a grassland fire.
416 is over a third the size of the massive fire that burned on the other size of Highway 550 in the San Juan National Forest in 2002; the Missionary Ridge fire is the 4th largest in Colorado history, at more than 71,000 acres.
The 2012 High Park fire burned 87,000 acres, and the 2013 West Fork Complex of fires burned 109,000-plus.
All of these pale in comparison to Colorado's largest recorded fire, the 2002 Hayman fire, which burned 138,114 acres, or 215 square miles.
We listed the specifics. These are the top 20 largest wildfires in Colorado history, including grassland fires (of course, the ranking could change with the size of the 416 Fire grows).
- Hayman – 138,114 acres, 2002
- West Fork Complex (West Fork, Windy Pass and Papoose fires) – 109,632 acres, 2013
- High Park Fire – 87,250 acres, 2012
- Missionary Ridge – 71,739 acres, 2002
- Last Chance Fire – 52,000 acres (grassland), 2012
- Bridger Fire – 45,800 acres, 2008
- Bear Springs/Callie Marie Fires – 44,662 acres, 2011
- 117 Fire – 42,795 acres (grassland/brush), 2018
- Beaver Creek Fire – 38,380 acres, 2016
- Badger Hole Fire – 33,609 acres in Colorado (grassland; 50,858 acres overall, with remainder in Kansas), 2018
- Logan Fire, around Haxtun -- 32,564 acres in both Logan and Phillips counties (grassland), 2017
- Burn Canyon Fire – 31,300 acres, 2002
- Mount Zirkel Complex - 31,016 acres, 2002
- 416 Fire -- 27,420 acres (as of 6/13/18, 4:38 p.m.), 2018
- Trinidad Complex (Spring, Fisher/James John fires) – 25,919 acres in Colorado (33,000 acres overall, with remainder in New Mexico), 2002
- Mayberry Fire – 25,385 acres, 2002
- Little Sand Fire – 24,900 acres, 2012
- Heartstrong Fire – 24,000 acres (grassland), 2012
- Bircher Fire – 23,607 acres, 2000
- Waldo Canyon Fire – 18,247 acres, 2012
*Editor's note: An eagle-eyed viewer asked about the fire near Haxtun in 2017, which was originally omitted from this list. We checked, and yes, that should be in the top 20. The Colorado State Forest Service explained that as a forestry agency, they track wild land fires, but do try to keep a record of grassland fires, as well. The Logan Fire was missed on the list they provided.
Extra credit:
21. Big Fish Fire – 17,056 acres, 2002
22. Cheyenne County Fire – 15,000 acres (grassland), 2002
