The largest wildfire in Colorado this century began on the evening of June 8th in Park county and spreads into Teller county early on the morning of the 9th. The wildfire was not fully contained until July 2nd.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
The largest wildfire in Colorado this century began on the evening of June 8th in Park county and spreads into Teller county early on the morning of the 9th. The wildfire was not fully contained until July 2nd. The Hayman Fire was allegedly started by a U.S. Forest Service employee. The fire consumed 43,000 acres of forest and meadows in Teller county generally north of a line from around 8 miles north northwest of Florissant to 8 miles north northwest of Woodland Park. Eighty eight residences were destroyed, along with around 200 other structures. The smoke plume caused heavy concentrations of smoke across Teller and El Paso county from time to time during the blaze. Besides the $6 million in damage to structures, $25 million will be spent in the fighting of the fire and rehabilitation of the burn area. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries in the burn area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 8, 1:00 PM MST, 13 hours earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 200 PM MDT SAT JUN 8 2002 ...WINDS AND TEMPERATURES REMAIN FORECAST CONCERN... ...A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY... CURRENTLY...WINDS PICKING UP ACROSS THE AREA...WITH AWOS SENSORS HITTING GUSTS AS HIGH AS 53 KNOTS...WHILE THE PLAINS HOLD THEIR OWN WITH GUSTS NEAR 30 KTS. WV SHOWS SLIVER OF ENERGY MOVING OVER THE MOUNTAINS...AT PEAK HEATING...HOWEVER THINK ANYTHING THAT GOES WILL BE VIRGA AS ITS SO DRY...NOT SURE ANYTHING WOULD HIT THE GROUND. TONIGHT...THINK WINDS WILL CONTINUE MOST OF THE NIGHT OVER THE AREA...WITH ONLY A BRIEF DECOUPLING IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OVER THE PLAINS...RESULTING IN WARM OVERNIGHT LOWS ALL AREAS. SUNDAY...MORE OF THE SAME...HOT DRY AND WINDY WITH BRISK SW FLOW (40-50KT AT 500MB) OVER THE MOUNTAINS...AND MIXING DOWN TO THE PLAINS (20-35KTS AT 500MB). VERY DRY AIR OVERHEAD LEAVES LITTLE CHANCE FOR POPS...ALTHOUGH HIGH LAPSE RATES MAY RESULT IN SOME VIRGA OVER MTNS. WHILE MODELS HAVE VARYING SOLUTIONS TO EXACT LOCATION OF THE UPPER LOW...WE ARE STILL ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF IT...AND ALL PROGGED TRACKS LEAVE US IN DRY SW FLOW. WITH TRACK SLIGHTLY FARTHER NORTH AND WEST...WIND SPEEDS WILL STILL BE WITHIN RED FLAG CRITERIA BUT SHOULD REMAIN BELOW HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA. MONDAY...IS A LITTLE TRICKIER. MESOETA BRINGS A COOL FRONT THROUGH AROUND 15Z. ON THE PLAINS...AIRMASS DEPTH IS UP TO 700MB..AND ALTHOUGH TEMPS ARE NOT DRAMATICALLY COOLER...THEY ARE MORE NEAR CLIMO (10-14C AT 700MB). AVN HANGS THE FRONT BACK ALONG THE CO/WY BORDER WITH TEMPS 16C OVER THE AREA. GIVEN THE AVN TENDENCY TO DEVELOP LEE SIDE LOWS TOO FAR NORTH...WILL SIDE MORE WITH THE MESOETA ALTHOUGH MESOETA TENDS TO DROP FRONTS ACROSS THE PALMER DIVIDE A BIT TOO FAST. HARD PART WILL BE IF SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW KEEPS COOLER AIR FROM MAKING IT TO THE MOUNTAINS AND KEEPS I-25 CORRIDOR IN THE DOWNSLOPE FLOW. THINK FOR NOW UPPER FLOW ISNT STRONG ENOUGH FOR THAT AND WILL KEEP CURRENT COOLER TEMPS. WITH FROPA OVER MTNS...AS WELL AS INCOMING JET(S)...WINDS ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN AN ISSUE THROUGH MONDAY ESPECIALLY MOUNTAINS...AND RED FLAG MAY NEED TO BE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT THIS. WILL ADJUST WINDS ON GRIDS. MESOETA SCENARIO COULD PROVIDE ENOUGH LIMITED MOISTURE TO ADD SOME ISOLD POPS EASTERN MTNS...WILL WAIT FOR CONTINUITY AND LEAVE OUT FOR NOW. TUESDAY...MON NITE INTO TUES AVN PUSHES SFC LOW INTO KS...AND LEAVES US IN NW FLOW AT THE SURFACE. LEE LOW REDEVELOPS IN THE AFTERNOON...BUT CURRENT DEPICTION WOULD STILL RESULT IN COOLER TEMPS ON TUESDAY. OVERNIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...SFC FRONT AHEAD OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS LEAVES AREA IN UPSLOPE FLOW. WED-SAT...NO BIG CHANGES. SURFACE HIGH MOVES SOUTH INTO THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS WHILE UPPER RIDGE MOVES IN BEHIND DEPARTING LOW. GENERAL PATTERN IS EASTERLY FLOW ON PLAINS...NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...TEMPS NEAR GUIDANCE. PATTERN COULD RESULT IN ADDING SOME NEAR MTN POPS...WILL NOT ADD YET. KC .PUB...RED FLAG WARNING TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY FOR ALL FIRE WEATHER ZONES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO,CO
1049 PM MDT SAT JUN 8 2002
TIME(MDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0630 PM SUGAR CITY CO WIND DAMAGE
06/08/02 CROWLEY *** 5 INJ ***
DOWNBURST WINDS BLEW OVER
CAMPERS/RVS AT LAKE
MEREDITH. ALL INJURIES WERE
MINOR.REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT. THIS LSR
UPDATES LSR ISSUED AT
809 PMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, June 2002
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5300460.