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. . 2002 Colorado Fire Season Statistics September 3, 2002 Active Large Fires . The Mt. Zirkel Complex north of Steamboat Springs has burned nearly 31,000 acres and is approximately 61 % contained. The fire has been managed primarily as a naturally ignited prescribed burn and has consumed a large portion of the beetle-infested timber in the Routt Blowdown Area. A Type I Incident Management Team is assigned to the fire and crews are focused on preventing the fire from making a run beyond prescribed boundaries. Suppression costs to date are $9, I 00,000. · The Big Fish and Lost Lakes Fires southwest of Steamboat Springs have burned 15,800 and 5,184 acres respectively. The fires are being managed as a naturally ignited prescribed bum. Breezy and dry conditions have complicated management by promoting extreme and/or erratic fire behavior. Some closures are still in place for public safety and crews continue to monitor fire activity near the Rio Blanco Lodge. A Type II Incident Management Team with 54 personnel are on scene. Suppression costs to date are $1,110,000. Season Fires and Acres . Colorado has recorded 1,994 fires since April. These fires have burned at least 505,915 acres and cost $152 million to suppress. . The state's ten-year average for an entire season is 3,119 fues and 70,770 acres. . Although this year's number of reported fires is not extraordinary, the amount of acreage burned is seven times the average. This is a reflection of the condition ofthe forest, which is over- crowded, concentrated in older age classes and susceptible to insects, disease and fire at an unnaturally large scale. Suppression . 98% of this season's fues have been contained through initial attack by local resources. . 16,580 firefighters have assisted in suppressing Colorado's fires. People and Homes in the Interface . More than one million people live in Colorado's high-risk wildland-urban interface, also known as the Red Zone. . 81,435 Colorado residents have been evacuated from their homes due to wildfire. This includes 12 communities and 142 subdivisions. . 384 homes have been lost as wen as 624 other structures. . 21 fires have exceeded county capability and invoked the Emergency Fire Fund. . 17 fues have received FEMA declarations indicating imminent and severe threat to lives and property. Rehabilitation and Restoration . 30% oflarge fire damage occurred on private or other non-federal land where rehab assistance is more difficult to come by. . Current emergency rehabilitation costs are estimated in excess of $52 million. This does not include long-term restoration needs. . The only resources for non- federal land come from the NRCS' s Emergency Watershed Restoration Program, which is currently unfunded.