Red flag alerts were in effect in southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains for extreme fire danger conditions as 30 mph winds, low humidities and tinder dry woodlands were waiting to explode. It was the worst drought in Colorado’s recorded weather history.
A single spark from an unknown source ignited a large, fast moving fire on Missionary Ridge northeast of Durango, CO on Sunday afternoon, June 9, 2002. The fire quickly roared out of control and would go on to become the second largest wildfire in Colorado history, burning 73,145 acres. It would be the end of June before the fire would be mostly under control. One firefighter was killed by a falling tree. 56 homes were destroyed.
The fire proved that no matter how smart we human think we are, Mother Nature is still in control. The explosive nature of the Colorado wildfires in 2002 was a result of a century of successful fire suppression symbolized by Smokey Bear. We know now that fires are a part of nature, and suppressing the natural cycle gives fires tremendous amounts of fuel that allow them to quickly explode. And explode they did. Colorado’s three major fires in the spring and summer of 2002 quickly grew to become the three largest in state’s history. Usually the high country forests never dry out enough to support a fire with a heavy snowpack that doesn’t melt until late spring and summer monsoon rains that come in time to moisten the forests by mid-summer. But the winter snowpack that was way below normal allowed the dense forests to dry our quickly. The largely unlogged stands of ancient pine, spruce and fir that define the high Rockies were a virtual powder keg.
The Missionary Ridge fire started at 7500 feet in Gamble Oak and Ponderosa Pine and burned quickly uphill through the subalpine forest of spruce and fir, eventually burning everything in sight all the way to the timberline. Such a fire is known as a stand replacement fire, like the 1988 Yellowstone inferno that burned 1.3 million acres. Such fires are not unexpected and not ecologically inappropriate. The 2002 wildfire season was especially harsh, as 6,400,000 acres burned, which is twice the average.
