Heavy Smoke From Western Wildfires Leads To Flight Delays And Cancellations At Denver International Airport - Forbes

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Topline

More than 300 flights were delayed and eight flights were cancelled at Denver International Airport Monday as heavy smoke and haze from major western fires in California, Oregon and Idaho obscured runways making it difficult for planes to land.

Key Facts

A spokesperson for the Denver International Airport said smoke affected visibility at the airport, which led the Federal Aviation Administration to set up a traffic management system to space out incoming flights leading to delays.

Southwest Airlines accounted for 124 of the delayed flights, SkyWest had 79 delayed flights and United Airlines had 44 delayed flights, according to reports by The Denver Post.

Officials are keeping an eye on conditions, as smoke is expected to get worse in the afternoon, according to an airport spokesperson.

Key Background

The western U.S. has been hit the hardest by wildfires. The largest blaze, the Bootleg Firein Oregon, has burned over 300,000 acres so far, destroying 160 buildings and forcing at least 2,000 residents to evacuate their homes. As of Monday, it was only 25% contained. Other major fires like the Snake River Complex fire in Idaho and the Beckwourth Complex fire in California, which have each burned over 100,000 acres and are 44% and 82% contained respectively, are still causing trouble for firefighters. Colorado also has one wildfire burning to the west of Denver that covers almost 4,000 acres. The National Weather Service warned more dry weather in Montana and thunderstorms in California, Washington and Oregon may set off more wildfires, and smoke in surrounding areas.

Big Number

80. That’s the number of large wildfires that are currently raging in 13 west coast states: Montana, Idaho, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Minnesota and Nevada. So far, the fires have burned over 1 million acres.