After a wildfire near Glenwood Springs, the slopes can stay dangerous

A wildfire does not stop being a hazard when the flames are out. In Garfield County’s steep terrain, the danger can shift to what happens when it rains on a burned slope.

When fire strips the plants and bakes the soil, the ground no longer soaks up water the way it did. A hard rain can then run off fast, pick up mud, rock, and burned debris, and carry it downhill as a debris flow. This is exactly what happened in Glenwood Canyon after the 2020 Grizzly Creek Fire, when storms sent debris onto I-70. The hills above Glenwood Springs have a longer history with this, too.

The point for a property owner or buyer near a burn scar: the risk does not end the year of the fire. The Colorado Geological Survey describes how post-fire debris-flow hazards can last for years while the land recovers. A parcel below or near a burned slope, or along a drainage coming off one, deserves a closer look.

None of this means a place is unlivable. It means the slope above and the drainages around it are part of understanding the property, alongside the usual home questions.

To understand post-wildfire debris-flow hazards and where they apply, see the Colorado Geological Survey’s post-wildfire hazard materials.