The High Park Fire destroyed more than $38.5 million worth of homes when it tore through the canyons and valleys northwest of Fort Collins last month, and caused twice that in total damage, according to new estimates.
The fire destroyed 259 homes and cabins — another cabin was destroyed by a mudslide last week — and damaged an estimated 112 outbuildings.
Uncounted is other property, such as heavy equipment and vehicles.
The Larimer County Assessor’s Office said the assessed value of the destroyed homes was $38.5 million. That calculation, performed at the Coloradoan’s request, doesn’t include damage to the land or other structures, said Deputy Assessor Alexis Smith.
“You can bet that even those homes that survived the fire will experience a loss in actual market value,” Smith said.
The 23 homes destroyed in the Woodland Heights Fire last month near Rocky Mountain National Park were worth $3 million, according to the assessor’s office.
Based on the nearly 850 insurance claims filed so far from the High Park Fire, the insurance costs are estimated at $97.1 million, said Carole Walker with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. These estimates do not include commercial losses, she added.
Statewide, insurers estimate wildfires have caused nearly $450 million in damage to homes and other property, according to RMIIA.
The estimated insured losses make the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs the state’s most expensive wildfire with insurance costs totaling more than $352.6 million from approximately 4,300 claims filed so far, RMIIA said.
Smith said the assessor’s office based the loss calculation on sales data from 2010. The office will be reassessing home values in the county next year, and will take into account losses suffered by home and property owners when making those calculations.
Generally, homes on more attractive pieces of land are worth more, meaning a home that survived the fire but now sits amidst a blackened moonscape would be considered less valuable than it was before the fire.
Previously 2010’s Fourmile Canyon Fire was the state’s most costly wildfire with an estimated $224 million in insured damage when adjusted for inflation in today’s dollars.
“The 2012 wildfire season is a heartbreaking reminder to Coloradans that the wildfire threat is very real in our state and can exact a price that is both personally devastating and costly in terms of insurance damage,” Walker said in a statement.