Colorado is “light years” ahead in fire preparedness than it was a decade ago, said Gov. Jared Polis, but it has also faced its largest and most destructive wildfires in that time.

So far this year, 24,222 fires have burned nearly two million acres across the country, significantly surpassing the 10-year average for acreage burned by this time of year. In an average year, Colorado sees between 6,000 and 7,000 wildfires. Its largest fires are human-caused and the origins of many of them are unknown.

In Colorado, during the first 117 days of 2026, the state dropped more than 200,000 gallons of water and fire retardant from the air on over 50 days of flight missions, said Stan Hilkey, the director of the state’s Department of Public Safety.

A society on fire in almost every meaning of the word “fire”.