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4 Colorado wildfires have so far cost up to $77M to fight

The Pine Gulch Fire becomes largest wildfire in Colorado history
Posted at 3:58 PM, Sep 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-02 18:05:47-04

DENVER (AP) — A federal fire agency based in Boise, Idaho reported that four wildfires in Colorado have so far cost up to $77 million to fight.

The National Interagency Fire Center announced that more than 206,000 acres (83,000 hectares) have burned as of Monday morning and none of the fires are contained despite cooler weather over the past weekend, the Colorado Sun reported.

An incident management situation report released by the agency on Monday shows that the Pine Gulch fire near Grand Junction has cost $28 million, the Grizzly Creek fire near Glenwood Springs has cost $25.5 million, the Cameron Peak fire near Fort Collins has cost $16.1 million and the Williams Fork fire in Grand County has cost $7.5 million.

The fire in Grand Junction has burned about 140,000 acres (57,000 hectares), making it the largest recorded wildfire in state history, officials said. It is also the most expensive fire so far this year.

The cost includes aircraft, equipment, firefighters and other emergency personnel, but does not include any of the restoration work intended to help the surrounding ecology recover.

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