The High Park fire , a forest fire in the mountains west of Fort Collins in Larimer County , was caused by a lightning strike and was first detected on the morning of June 9 , 2012 . A 62-year-old woman was killed in the fire . This fire burned over , making it the second-largest fire in recorded Colorado history by area burned , after the Hayman Fire of 2002 . It destroyed at least 259 homes , surpassing the number consumed by the Fourmile Canyon fire of 2010 . The High Park fire was the most destructive fire in Colorado history , in terms of the number of houses burned , until it was surpassed by the Waldo Canyon fire
Hayman Fire
Hayman Fire
2012 Colorado wildfires