Pine Gulch Fire grows to 2nd largest in Colorado history

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Pine Gulch Fire that has been burning in west Colorado since the end of July is now the second largest wildfire in the state's history.

That's according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, which said Tuesday that the fire had grown to 125,108 acres.

Pine Gulch fire is now second largest in Colorado history. The fire is now at 125,108 acres. #OneLessSpark

— RMACC (@RMACCinfo) August 19, 2020

The fire was started by lightning about 18 miles north of Grand Junction and has been burning since July 31, according to Inciweb.

Firefighters reported the fire to be 7% contained as of Monday.

There are nearly 1,000 people working on containing and extinguishing the fire, with 892 total personnel as of Tuesday morning, according to Inciweb.

The largest wildfire in Colorado's history was the Hayman Fire, which burned 138,114 acres from June 8 to July 18 in 2002.