Colorado wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Colorado?

Colorado averages about 26 wildfire records a year since 2000, 4th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2018 (74). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Colorado records 64 wildfire records since 1996, 10th of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Colorado have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, San Juan County leads Colorado: 47 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 121.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Rio Blanco County has the most wildfire records (135 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. San Juan County 121.3 (61)
2. Ouray County 49.9 (35)
3. Dolores County 49.7 (74)
4. Hinsdale County 46.5 (66)
5. La Plata County 40.2 (88)
6. Archuleta County 40.0 (70)
7. Routt County 36.8 (103)
8. Rio Blanco County 34.2 (135)
9. Montezuma County 33.5 (88)
10. Garfield County 30.2 (110)
11. San Miguel County 28.8 (50)
12. Mesa County 27.0 (113)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is fire season in Colorado?

48% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in June and July. The busiest month is July (194 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest wildfire records in Colorado?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest wildfire records in Colorado

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in Colorado?

Colorado's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in Colorado

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in Colorado

FEMA has declared 86 disasters in Colorado for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 7 were major disasters, the latest on September 1, 2026.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• San Juan County: the county's whole recordThe Colorado county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in ColoradoTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Hail in Colorado15,490 records
• Winter storms in Colorado15,010 records
• Severe thunderstorm wind in Colorado4,650 records