The Sunshine fire that has been burning west of Boulder since early Sunday morning appears to be human-caused, Boulder County sheriff’s officials said late in the day. The fire has scorched 62 acres and is now 50 percent contained, officials said.
Cmdr. Mike Wagner said the general area where the fire started, at Sunshine Canyon Road and Timber Trail, has a network of unofficial “social” trails and is known to have “lots of transient campsites.”
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said firefighters plan to monitor the perimeter of the 62-acre fire and focus on protecting structures overnight. No structures have been damaged. Evacuation orders for residents of 426 homes remain in place.
Crews hope to contain the blaze fully on Monday.
Wagner said residents of the more than 400 homes evacuated early this morning were prohibited from returning at night, with high winds forecast around midnight. Re-evacuating at night is more difficult, he said.
“Things get exponentially more complex in the dark,” he said.
Fire officials plan to reassess the evacuations in the morning, with an update expected around 8 a.m., Wagner said.
“They’re hoping they can keep control of it overnight and really start mopping up tomorrow,” he said.
No homes or structures have been damaged or destroyed, officials said, and there have been no reported injuries.
The contained area is off the “heel” of the fire near Sunshine Canyon Drive and the Centennial Trailhead, officials said.
https://twitter.com/heyyhayhayley/status/843567922173935616
Onlookers gathered at a roadblock on Fourth Street and Mapleton Avenue just east of Sunshine Canyon and worried the fire would spread into town or that they would be evacuated. But Belle Star, a resident of Boulder for the past 17 years, said she was not so scared while taking shelter at East Boulder Community Center.
“I woke up to the sound of pounding at my front door at 5 a.m., and policemen were meticulous about making sure everybody in my condo was out,” she said, explaining that officials wrapped yellow caution tape around door handles indicating they had spoken with a resident. “I grabbed my sister and my cat and I left. Your priorities change when they want you to act fast.”
Star lives at Fourth and Pearl Streets and said she has experienced other natural disasters before, including the Boulder Flood in 2013 and several fires. She said her main concern was the wind picking up and spreading the fire.
“They might have it out by tonight, but you never know,” she said. “It all depends on the wind and which way it blows.”
Wagner said: “I think it really hinges on what the weather does tonight. … We’re not able to utilize aircraft at night, and evacuations are harder.”
Officials were concerned earlier in the day about gusting winds because the fire was within a mile of downtown.
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management placed more than 1,000 phone calls ordering predawn evacuations. The fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The calls resulted in 426 homes being evacuated.
Six aircraft dropped water and slurry, said Barb Halpin, a spokeswoman for the Boulder Office of Emergency Management. Residents were warned to avoid Wonderland Lake, where water refills were conducted.
View from the sky of #SunshineFire pic.twitter.com/Go6mGpCkQN
— Boulder Office of Disaster Management (@BoulderOEM) March 19, 2017
Gov. John Hickenlooper authorized support from the Colorado National Guard, including equipment such as two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, one CH-47 Chinook helicopter and a refueling truck from the Colorado Army National Guard.
Aircraft from Buckley Air Force Base were assisting.
The OEM placed about 3,700 calls to those on pre-evacuation notice, telling residents to be prepared to leave. About 8 p.m., 836 homes remained on pre-evacuation.
Police were patrolling the area at night to address concerns about possible burglaries to evacuated homes.
Wagner said 250 state and local firefighters and 50 fire vehicles were involved throughout the day Sunday. One firefighter told Wagner that there was no moisture in the soil of the burn area and said it was like June.
The Boulder office’s website experienced high traffic and intermittently dropped offline during the day. Users were asked to refresh often or get information on Twitter at @BoulderOEM or on Facebook.
Conditions are ripe for fire throughout the Front Range, said Bernie Meier, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. Boulder had a record 80-degree high Saturday, breaking the record of 77 for March 18 set in 1907.
Winds were light, about 5 mph at 8:30 a.m., but by 11 a.m., the weather service was recording gusts of 40 mph, with sustained winds of 5 to 10 mph pushing the flames in the wooded area a couple of miles west of Pearl Street.
Flames visible from Boulder Canyon #boulder #fire pic.twitter.com/ZYUabzbroC
— Paul Aiken (@PaulAikenBDC) March 19, 2017
Humidty was low, at 14 percent.
The fire was first reported on the mountainside near Sunshine Canyon and Timber Lane when someone noticed “glowing on the mountain, and we sent deputies,” said Gabi Boerkircher, a spokeswoman with the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.
Boulder County Public Health advises people to avoid outdoor activities if they can see or smell smoke.
Working on getting a higher quality image. But this is the current fire perimeter. #SunshineFire pic.twitter.com/FHEGRZTL2z
— Boulder Office of Disaster Management (@BoulderOEM) March 19, 2017
Some residents in the pre-evacuation zone in the Highland neighborhood were watching the fire from Eben G. Fine Park and waiting to see if the wind picked up before packing.
Ben Egner said that although he hadn’t packed anything yet, he has a list in his head that includes musical instruments, books, his hard drive and his dog, Petunia. He said he found out about the fire after getting a text from a neighbor early this morning.
For another neighbor, Beth Prehn, it was a phone call from a friend at 5:30 a.m. that alerted her. At about 7 a.m., she took a picture of flames lighting up Sunshine Canyon.
“That was scary,” she said.
Now, looking at smoke instead of flames, “I feel a lot better,” she said.
Officials closed Boulder Canyon Drive to all traffic.
The general evacuation perimeter is Poorman Road to the west, Fourth Street in the city of Boulder to the east, Boulder Canyon Drive to the south and Sunshine Canyon Drive to the north, according to the sheriff’s office. Traffic is being rerouted on a portion of Boulder Canyon Drive at Sixth Avenue, down Arapahoe, and returning to Boulder Canyon Drive, the office of emergency management said.
Within the city of Boulder, the area of Fourth Street east to Broadway, and Mapleton Avenue to Canyon Boulevard are on pre-evacuation notice.
A Public Call Center line is open for non-emergency calls: 303-413-7730.
Residents ordered to evacuate can use the East Boulder Community Center, 5660 Sioux Drive.
Boulder County Fairgrounds will be open to accept large animals from evacuation zone beginning at 9am. #SunshineFire
— Boulder Office of Disaster Management (@BoulderOEM) March 19, 2017
Large animals can be evacuated to the Boulder County Fairgrounds. Small animals can be taken to the East Boulder Community Center, but residents are asked to bring crates if possible.
Evacuated from our new home 4th/Pearl 6am @boulderfire #sunshinefire #Boulderfire Praying for animals and neighbors pic.twitter.com/6CtsTph0cZ
— KathyDragon (@kathydragon) March 19, 2017
Multiple fire agencies responded, including the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District, the Boulder Fire Department, the Greeley Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Fire Management Program. The Denver Fire Department has dispatched five engines and 21 workers.
Seth Frankel, who was warned that he and his family may need to evacuate, said he had packed up “generations of things” that can’t be replaced and was ready to go if the air quality got worse.
He said smoke was pouring toward neighborhoods and many dead trees were combusting and sending black smoke into the air less than a half-mile from his home. But he and his wife, a Boulder native, and three daughters have dealt with fires and floods before.
“It’s always alarming and always on your mind, but it’s not an uncommon sensation around here,” said Frankel, who has lived in Boulder for 20 years.
Frankel got word of the fire early Sunday from a neighbor who received a warning call, and he was outside with neighbors watching the flames and smoke. But he let his daughters, 9, 11 and 13, sleep in.
“It’s still alarming, but there’s no panic,” Frankel said. “We will be long since gone when parents are no longer smiling.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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