Boulder fires today: fire map, smoke & air quality
Active wildfires within 100 miles of Boulder, the air quality and wind right now, fire-weather alerts — and how often fires burn near Boulder.
Air quality and wind in Boulder
Fire weather alerts for Boulder
Wildfire history near Boulder
Wildfires within 50 miles, by year
Fires of 10+ acres whose origin was within 50 miles of Boulder. 2026 is still in progress.
When fires start near Boulder
Peak months: July, August, September — 43% of fires in the last 10 years started in these three months.
0 days in the last 12 months had modeled daily PM2.5 above 35.4 µg/m³ — the level where air becomes unhealthy for sensitive groups. Smoke can come from fires hundreds of miles away, so smoke days and nearby fires don't always line up.
Fire history: NIFC WFIGS incident records 2016–2026. Smoke: Open-Meteo CAMS air-quality model, 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30. Updated 2026-10-01.
Major fires near Boulder this year
Largest wildfires near Boulder since 2015
| Fire | Acres | Year | County | From Boulder |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Fork | 14,833 | 2020 | Grand, CO | 44 mi |
| Guttersen Ranch | 11,699 | 2015 | Weld, CO | 46 mi |
| Calwood | 10,106 | 2020 | Boulder, CO | 11 mi |
| Alexander Mountain | 9,668 | 2024 | Larimer, CO | 29 mi |
| Marshall | 6,026 | 2021 | Boulder, CO | 5 mi |
| Sunday Fire | 2,000 | 2020 | Weld, CO | 36 mi |
Most recent fires near Boulder
| Fire | Acres | Discovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedona Hills | 12 | 2026-05-11 | 24 mi |
| Bear Creek | 11 | 2026-04-05 | 43 mi |
| 49 | 368 | 2026-03-21 | 37 mi |
| Plainview | 148 | 2026-02-07 | 10 mi |
| 104Th | 36 | 2026-01-05 | 9 mi |
Distances are straight-line from the city center to the fire's point of origin.
Fires and smoke near other cities
Questions
Is there a fire near Boulder right now?
The live map at the top of this page shows every active wildfire within 100 miles of Boulder from official incident reports, sorted by distance, with acres, containment and the last update time.
How often do wildfires burn near Boulder?
From 2016 to 2025, 86 wildfires of 10 acres or more started within 50 miles of Boulder — about 9 a year — burning 52,777 acres in total. 43% of them started in July, August and September.
What was the biggest fire near Boulder?
The Williams Fork Fire (2020), 14,833 acres, which started about 44 miles from Boulder in Grand County.
Is the air quality in Boulder safe today?
The air-quality panel above shows the current US AQI for Boulder and a 72-hour forecast. Above 100 (orange), sensitive groups should limit time outdoors; above 150 (red), everyone should. In the last 12 months Boulder had 0 modeled smoke days.
Get fire alerts for Boulder
Save Boulder in Wildfire Tracker: distance to the nearest active fire, which side of it you're on relative to the wind, air quality — alerts only for fires that are actually active.