LAKEWOOD — With all the fires burning around Colorado, it can be hard to keep track of all the numbers. But, that's the job of Larry Helmerick at the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
"It's a big impact for firefighters and the public because of the large fires we're having. Spring Creek is now second in Colorado history," said Helmerick, a public information coordinator.
In 2018, nine large wildfires flared up across the state. Eight are still active. So far, 197,319 acres have burned with the Spring Fire at nearly 106,000 acres and growing. Altogether, 3,480 firefighters are on the ground with nearly 1,800 people providing support. The costs so far, according to Helmerick, are more than $58 million with the fires still burning.
"It isn't contained and that's what we're striving for and that's why we have so much money, firefighting resources, air and ground in Colorado right now," Helmerick said.
But, as bad things sound right now, 2018 still lags behind the worst fire year in Colorado history -- 2012. This was the year of the High Park Fire which burned more than 87,000 acres adding to the total of more than 283,000 burned in 2012.
While the Waldo Canyon Fire was not that big at 18,000 acres in 2012, it destroyed 346 homes causing more than $453 million in insured losses. The hope now is that 2012 will remain the worst year in history.
"The weather is moderating a little bit right now. We may get a break," Helmerick said. "We hope the monsoon gets here. We've had some moisture, but western part of Colorado is still bone dry."