The cost of battling the massive, human-caused Beaver Creek fire near Walden has reached roughly $30 million dollars as the blaze continues to smolder and produce smoke.
Aaron Voos, spokesman for the Routt National Forest, said Monday there was still visible smoke at the site as of Saturday.
“There are still minimal costs associated with it,” Voos said, explaining that a final tab for the fire — which burned more than 38,000 acres, destroying one home and 16 other structures — has yet to be calculated.
The Beaver Creek fire stood apart from other wildfires and was so difficult to harness because of its 38,000-plus acres of mostly beetle-kill timber, a volatile fuel that forces firefighters to rethink the way they can safely approach such large burns.
The U.S. Forest Service hopes the fire provides a blueprint for how to fight blazes in the millions of acres of forest in Colorado and across the West that have been ravaged by insects.
A juvenile has been charged with arson in connection with the fire. Officials, however, have declined to release further information on the suspect, including age, gender and hometown.
