COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — It's been almost four years to the date since the Badger Hole and MM 117 Fires started under the same fire danger conditions we're seeing today in Southern Colorado.
The MM 117 fire burned over 43,000 acres and began when a muffler was dragging on a car, sending sparks into the air, according to Wildfire Today.
The grass fire started quickly and died down once the winds died down.
It took 72 hours to contain the fire and 24 structures were destroyed during the fire.
The Badger Hole fire began on April 17, 2018, burning an estimated 50,568 acres in total, 33,609 of those acres in Colorado and 17,249 in Kansas.
Multiple homes, outbuildings, livestock and infrastructure losses were reported by Baca County officials.
The fire was fueled by 70 mph wind gusts in the area and quickly spread across the northeast and into the Kansas border.
A combination of dangerous wind gusts, low humidity and the likelihood of dust storm warnings are recreating that extreme fire danger we saw in 2018.
If a fire were to break out today, it could become uncontrollable due to wind gusts over 50 mph and temperatures in the 80s and 90s across the eastern plains.
These conditions would make it difficult for firefighters to control and aircrafts wouldn't be able to fly over the fire.
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