‘This season is off the charts’: Colorado fights the worst wildfires in its recent history

Two major fires are consuming the forests in the Rocky mountains, killing at least two people and causing an estimated $195m in damages

By 23 October, a blustery Friday toward the end of a depressingly short autumn, the two largest wildfires in Colorado's recent history were descending on Rocky Mountain national park, reaching toward each other with a mere 10 miles of bone-dry forest between them.

The Cameron Peak fire had arrived from the north and had already scorched through wilderness for 71 days. The East Troublesome fire was approaching from the west, sending flames over the Continental Divide and forcing the evacuation of the nearby town of Estes Park.