LAKEWOOD | Investigators say Colorado’s second-largest wildfire on record was human-caused.
The U.S Forest Service announced Friday that the determination was made based on evidence gathered at the origin of the East Troublesome Fire, but it’s still unclear exactly how the blaze started.
“Given the location and time of year that the fire started, it may have been caused by a hunter or a backcountry camper, and possibly by accident,” the agency said in a news release, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
The fire was reported Oct. 14, 2020, and high winds and drought conditions allowed it to quickly spread through dead and fallen beetle-killed trees. The fire came dangerously close to the town of Estes Park near Rocky Mountain National Park before it was slowed by a late-October snowstorm.
More than 350 homes were destroyed in the blaze, which scorched more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers).