Another July in the books, and with it, many wildfires. Smoky air weighs not just on our lungs but also on our minds. As wildfire frequency and damage have increased in recent decades, homeowners and renters alike have begun reconsidering how to protect themselves against the possibility of fires starting close to home.
As of July 30, there are 13 active wildfires in the state of Colorado alone. A new fire sparked up on the Front Range near Lyons just in the past few days. In this arid climate, some wildfires during the hottest and driest part of the year make sense. However, the steady increase in the number of fires and acreage burned raises questions and expenses for Colorado residents.
Take the summer of 2020 as an example. That year saw over 1,000 wildfires between April and November. The record for the largest fire in state history was broken first by the 139,007-acre Pine Gulch fire in Mesa and Garfield counties, then broken again by the 208,913-acre Cameron Peak fire in Larimer county, which burned for four months before being finally extinguished in early December.
Closer to home, the Grizzly Creek fire shut down I-70 through Glenwood Canyon for two weeks and destabilized the canyon walls. No Name, Lookout Mountain and Coulter Creek residents had to evacuate on short notice as the fire raced through the dry tinder in the canyon. Eagle County residents and travelers through the canyon have had to cope with increased rockslides and post-rainstorm instability in the area ever since.
Just two years earlier, in 2018, the 12,588-acre Lake Christine fire forced over 2,100 evacuations in the central Roaring Fork Valley as it bore down on Basalt, El Jebel and Missouri Heights. Local environmental groups have supported the Forest Service in reseeding efforts to regrow healthy and diverse forest in the burn scar in the six years since.
Other fires in recent years, though smaller, have been dramatically unseasonal. The Marshall Fire sparked on Dec. 30, 2021 and proceeded to destroy 1,084 residential structures, both homes and apartment buildings, and damage an additional 149 buildings. Over 30,000 people had to evacuate with minimal notice. According to Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway, the fire caused over $513 million in structural damage in just six hours. It took another $1.5 billion dollars to rebuild.
The repercussions reach far beyond individuals who lost residences in these fires. More and more people are opting for catastrophe insurance or other supplemental policies in recognition of the risk. But like so many other costs, the insurance prices are only increasing.
A 2023 Colorado Public Radio report shows that regular homeowner insurance in Colorado has increased by over 50% since 2020 as a result of natural disasters. Earlier this summer, the Colorado Sun reported that these prices and the prices for catastrophe insurance may increase by another 50% to 100% in the next few years as risks continue to increase.
In Durango, which has been hit repeatedly by the double whammy of bark beetle tree damage and large wildfires in the past decade, new homeowners are struggling to even get insured. Many leading insurance agencies have adjusted policies for fire-prone regions in the past five years, but those new policies exclude many areas of Colorado. With or without insurance, it’s likely that fire-related expenses are only going to increase.
What does all this mean for Colorado residents? Certainly, it means that a reckoning is coming. But is that reckoning with the force of nature or with a faceless insurance agency? Homeowners have the ability to work within their neighborhoods to mitigate risk in small ways, through landscaping and small-scale waterscaping. Renters, however, are at the mercy of their landlords and whether they choose to take similar measures.
It is also a worthwhile conversation for communities to have with developers and permitting agencies. Should construction be permitted in high-risk areas? Or should new developments be limited to areas affected by fires in recent years? All these questions and more weigh upon residents of the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state. The answers remain to be seen.