Open Data Response to the Colorado Wildfires

Unprecedented wildfires in Boulder and Jefferson County, Colorado, forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate their homes as strong winds and drought fueled the fires. As of Friday, December 31, 2021, approximately 600 homes were destroyed, as well as a hotel and retail businesses. The towns of Superior and Louisville, about 20 miles northwest of Denver, were evacuated and have been hit the hardest. Wind gusts up to 115 mph caused flames to jump, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze.

Learn more about the fires in these news articles:

• https://kdvr.com/news/local/grass-fires-spark-in-boulder-county-as-high-winds-pick-up/
• https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/thousands-flee-colorado-wildfires-burn-hundreds-homes-82014901

When crises like this occur, Maxar is committed to supporting the humanitarian community by providing critical and actionable information to assist response efforts and fulfilling our purpose, For A Better World. As part of our Open Data Program, Maxar will publicly release data of the affected areas to support response efforts as it becomes available.

Any imagery or data distributed through the Open Data Program is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 license (CC BY-NC 4.0). This licensing allows for noncommercial use of the information, meaning it can quickly be integrated into first responder workflows with organizations like Team Rubicon, the Red Cross and other nonprofits. If commercial companies are interested in using the data distributed through the Open Data Program, it can be purchased by contacting us here.

Imagery has been posted on our Open Data Program website. Please continue to check this site and our social media channels for updates on additional post-event data.