4,167 Colorado wildfires caused record losses of $538 million in 2012

It is official: the state's 2012 wildfire season was a doozy, with record insured losses, and the evacuation of 32,000 residents in the northwestern quadrant of Colorado Springs where 347 homes were destroyed in the Waldo Canyon Fire, the largest number in state history. "Colorado fire departments reported 4,167 wildland fires through the National Fire Reporting System. These fires destroyed more than 648 structures, killed six civilians, burned more than 384,803 acres and have caused at least $538 million in property losses," according to a preliminary report on the season by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Preliminary estimates for insured losses total $449.7 million for claims ranging from smoke damage to destroyed homes and the loss of personal belongings and vehicles, according to the report by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control...more