# 2023 Colorado wildfires > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/2023_Colorado_wildfires > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/2023_Colorado_wildfires.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Colorado_wildfires > Source revision: 1332206421 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Natural disasters in the USA 2023 Colorado wildfires The Spring Creek Fire on July 6 Statistics[1] Total fires 6,503 Total area 16,190 acres (6,550 ha) Impacts Cost Unknown The **2023 Colorado wildfire season** was a series of wildfires that have been burning throughout the [U.S. state](/source/U.S._state) of [Colorado](/source/Colorado). ## Background Main article: [List of Colorado wildfires](/source/List_of_Colorado_wildfires) While "fire season" varies every year based on different weather conditions, most wildfires occur between May and September with a fire risk year-round with an increasing danger during winter. [Drought](/source/Drought) and decreasing [snowpack](/source/Snowpack) levels and lowering [snowmelt](/source/Snowmelt) and [runoff](/source/Runoff_(hydrology)) increase fire risk. These conditions, along with increased temperatures and decreased [humidity](/source/Humidity), are becoming more common from [climate change](/source/Climate_change). Vegetation growth provides an ample fuel for fires. From 2011 to [2020](/source/2020_Colorado_wildfires), Colorado experiences an average of 5,618 wildfires each year that collectively burn about 237,500 acres (96,100 ha).[2] ## List of wildfires The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties. Name County Acres Start date Containment date[a] Notes Ref 403 Gunnison 1,096 March 31 April 13 The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) did not document information about this wildfire. [4][5] Gageby Creek Bent 4,600 April 19 April 28 The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) did not document information about this wildfire. [6][7][8] Spring Creek Garfield 3,256 July 24 October 1 [9] Lowline Gunnison 1,999 July 26 December 13 Lightning-caused. [10][11] Bear Creek Hinsdale 1,093 July 28 2023 Caused by lightning about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Pagosa Springs. [12][13] Little Mesa Delta 4,009 July 31 September 20 [14] Quartz Ridge Archuleta 2,850 August 5 October 30 [15] Dry Lake Archuleta 1,372 August 30 September 12 [16] Hope Montezuma 1,290 September 21 October 7 Lightning-caused. Burned 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dolores. [17] Iron Moffat 7,392 September 29 October 5 Undetermined cause. Burned 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Craig. [18][19] Trail Springs Archuleta 1,358 October 23 2023 Lighting-caused. Burned 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Pagosa Springs. Was 44% contained on November 24. [20] ## See also - [Colorado State Forest Service](/source/Colorado_State_Forest_Service) - [List of Colorado wildfires](/source/List_of_Colorado_wildfires) - [2023 Arizona wildfires](/source/2023_Arizona_wildfires) - [2023 New Mexico wildfires](/source/2023_New_Mexico_wildfires) - [2023 Utah wildfires](/source/2023_Utah_wildfires) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Containment means that fire crews have established and secured control lines around the fire's perimeter. These lines are artificial barriers, like trenches or cleared vegetation, designed to stop the fire's spread, or natural barriers like rivers. Containment reflects progress in managing the fire but does not necessarily mean the fire is starved of fuel, under control, or put out.[3] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2023_RMACC_Annual_Report_1-0)** ["2023 RMACC Annual Report"](https://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/documents/predictive/annual_reports/annual_report_2023.pdf) (PDF). *gaac.nifc.gov*. Retrieved May 19, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Colorado Fire Season: In-Depth Guide"](https://wfca.com/wildfire-articles/colorado-fire-season/). *wfca.com*. Western Fire Chiefs Association. June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["What containment and other wildfire related terms mean"](https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/what-does-containment-mean-wildfire-evacuation-warning-order-red-flag/). Los Angeles: [KCAL-TV](/source/KCAL-TV). September 12, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Colorado wildfire burning on 1,205 acres near Florissant; 100 homes evacuated"](https://www.denverpost.com/2023/03/31/wildfire-403-florissant-colorado-teller-county). *The Denver Post*. March 31, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** National Centers for Environmental Information (June–July 2023). ["Gunnison County Wildfire Events Between 03/31/2023 and 04/13/2023"](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=%28Z%29+Wildfire&beginDate_mm=03&beginDate_dd=31&beginDate_yyyy=2023&endDate_mm=04&endDate_dd=13&endDate_yyyy=2023&county=GUNNISON%3A51&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=8%2CCOLORADO). *Storm Event Database*. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230802162507/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=%28Z%29+Wildfire&beginDate_mm=03&beginDate_dd=31&beginDate_yyyy=2023&endDate_mm=04&endDate_dd=13&endDate_yyyy=2023&county=GUNNISON%3A51&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=8%2CCOLORADO) from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Helicopter crew assessing Gageby Creek fire burning on 1,680 acres in southeastern Colorado"](https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/19/helicopter-crew-assess-fire-burning-1400-acres-southeastern-colorado). *The Denver Post*. April 19, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** National Centers for Environmental Information (July 2023). ["Bent County, Colorado Wildfire Events Between 04/19/2023 and 04/30/2023"](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=%28Z%29+Wildfire&beginDate_mm=04&beginDate_dd=19&beginDate_yyyy=2023&endDate_mm=04&endDate_dd=30&endDate_yyyy=2023&county=BENT%3A11&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=8%2CCOLORADO). *Storm Event Database*. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230803044147/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=%28Z%29+Wildfire&beginDate_mm=04&beginDate_dd=19&beginDate_yyyy=2023&endDate_mm=04&endDate_dd=30&endDate_yyyy=2023&county=BENT%3A11&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=8%2CCOLORADO) from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Governor Polis Takes Action in Response to Gageby Creek Fire in Bent County"](https://cdn.colorado.gov/governor/news/10131-governor-polis-takes-action-response-gageby-creek-fire-bent-county). *cdn.colorado.gov*. Retrieved May 18, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Spring Creek Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/cowrf-spring-creek-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved July 30, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Lowline Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/cogmf-lowline-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved May 13, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Lowline Fire 100% Contained"](https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/gmug/newsroom/releases/lowline-fire-100-contained). *fs.usda.gov*. United States Forest Service. December 13, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Bear Creek Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/cosjf-bear-creek-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved May 13, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Cosjf Bear Creek Fire Information"](https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cosjf-bear-creek-fire). *InciWeb*. Retrieved May 18, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Little Mesa Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/coupd-little-mesa-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved September 26, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Quartz Ridge Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/cosjf-quartz-ridge-fire-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved September 26, 2023.[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Dry Lake Fire"](https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/cosjf-dry-lake-fire). *InciWeb: Incident Information System*. Retrieved September 26, 2023.[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Hope - Wildfire and Smoke Map"](https://data.coloradoan.com/fires/hope/cb0b3ef7-d77f-4865-9de6-7ae1700d3e67/). *data.coloradoan.com*. Retrieved August 26, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Iron Fire Map"](https://app.watchduty.org/i/13180). *[Watch Duty](/source/Watch_Duty)*. Retrieved August 26, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Grewe, Lindsey (October 3, 2023). ["'Iron Fire' burning in northwest Colorado now 50 percent contained"](https://www.kktv.com/2023/10/03/iron-fire-burning-northwest-colorado-now-50-percent-contained/). *[KKTV](/source/KKTV)*. Retrieved August 26, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Trail Springs - Wildfire and Smoke Map"](https://data.coloradoan.com/fires/trail-springs/5664eea7-1f0b-49f2-b588-8e5c80f30a9e/?page=56&anchor=). *data.coloradoan.com*. Retrieved August 26, 2025. v t e Wildfires in 2023 Africa North Asia Kazakhstan Europe United Kingdom Cannich Greece Spain Tenerife North America Canada Donnie Creek Bush Creek East McDougall Creek United States Arizona California Colorado Florida Hawaiʻi Louisiana New Mexico Oregon Utah Washington South America Chile Oceania Australia 2022–23 2023–24 Darling Downs fires Wanneroo bushfire ◀ 2022 2024 ▶ v t e Colorado wildfires Pre-2010 Ouzel (1978) South Canyon (1994) Hayman (2002) 2010 Fourmile Canyon 2012 Waldo Canyon High Park 2013 Black Forest East Peak 2014–2017 Hayden Pass (2016) 2018 416 Spring Creek 2020 East Canyon Pine Gulch Grizzly Creek Cameron Peak Mullen East Troublesome 2021 Oil Springs Muddy Slide Sylvan Morgan Creek Marshall 2022 Marshall 2024 Spruce Creek Alexander Mountain Bucktail 2025 South Rim Lee Elk RBX Category Commons --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [2023 Colorado wildfires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Colorado_wildfires) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Colorado_wildfires?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.