Two immense wildfires, the cross-state Mullen wildfire and the Cameron Peak fire, continued to burn in Northern Colorado this week.

The Mullen fire, which began in Wyoming last month, crossed state lines into Colorado Oct. 1, according to CBS Denver, and has burned over 237 square miles of land, per an Oct. 5 Incident Information System report.

To put this into perspective, Colorado’s Pine Gulch Fire reached 217 square miles before its containment in late September, making it the largest fire in Colorado state history. 

The #MullenFire_WY is very active between Albany & Keystone along the 542 Rd. Strong afternoon winds from the W are challenging firefighters trying to keep the fire S of the road. A forecasted wind shift could prove helpful in this effort. Full update at https://t.co/vZuV1sWZVX pic.twitter.com/yHhJlbihJM

— Medicine Bow-Routt NFs & Thunder Basin NG (@FS_MBRTB) October 5, 2020

The Mullen fire has “destroyed 29 homes and 31 other structures,” according to CBS Denver. 

And while the Mullen fire continues, the Cameron Peak fire has burned almost 200 square miles. The fire has reached 42% containment, despite the windy conditions, according to an Oct. 6 press release. 

According to a recent Denver Post article on the fires, “Monday’s red flag weather winds were capable of blowing an ember about half a mile with an 80% probability of igniting should the ember land in a dry fuel bed,” per Cameron Peak fire behavioral analysts. 

The Cameron Peak fire, which began over a month ago, has entirely destroyed or damaged over 90 structures, according to 9News. 

Smoke from both wildfires is expected to continue impacting air quality in Fort Collins and along the Front Range into the week, according to The Denver Post. 

As of the Oct. 6 InciWeb reports that between both wildfires, over 2,000 personnel are fighting to contain both blazes. 

Sam Moccia can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @SamuelMoccia.