Highlights
▸ A series of large wildfires have forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate Boulder County, Superior and Louisville
▸ At least 500 homes have been destroyed and six people have been hospitalized as a result of the blazes
▸ Residents in Superior, Boulder County, and Louisville should consult the Boulder Emergency Operations Center Public Information Map
▸ The Boulder OEM has a list of evacuation shelters
▸ Those under pre-evacuation order should pay close attention to advice issued by fire officials on how to prepare for evacuation
Editor’s note: This story is no longer being updated. For the latest updates on the wildfires in Boulder County, click here.
A wind-whipped grassfire roared east from Boulder Thursday afternoon, destroying at least 500 homes, closing major highways and causing the evacuation of more than 30,000 people in two towns, including hospital patients.
The Marshall fire, which officials said likely was sparked by downed power lines in the winds that reached gusts of more than 100 mph, grew to 1,600 acres by 5 p.m., Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said in an evening news conference.
“The end won’t come until the wind subsides,” Pelle said. “This is the kind of fire you can’t fight head on.”
More than 200 structures may have been lost to the flames in downtown Superior, including a hotel, he said. More than 300 homes were on fire in a single neighborhood.
“We are literally watching it burn,” Superior Mayor Clint Folsom said in an interview. “This is devastating for our people.”
Images from the area showed apartment buildings and entire neighborhoods engulfed in flames. Thick smoke blanketed the area, prompting officials to caution people against driving because of the diminished visibility.
Superior’s 12,000 people were the first to be evacuated, followed by Louisville with a population of about 20,000. Later in the evening, evacuations widened and parts of Broomfield were under pre-evacuation orders.
“A MANDATORY evacuation order is now in place for everyone South of US-36 to 112th and West of Wadsworth,” Broomfield police posted on Twitter. “This includes the Interlocken area. If you live in that area leave immediately.”
At 8:40 p.m., an evacuation order was posted for the Meadow View neighborhood, off of West 107th Avenue and Country Side Drive in Westminster.
“Evacuate now,” the Westminster Fire Department said on Twitter. “Once again this is a mandatory evacuation notice.”
The fast-moving fires had emergency responders scrambling, shutting down roadways as flames jumped the pavement. At one point in the afternoon, Boulder County officials asked the public to stop calling 911 to report trees toppling and vehicles being blown over.
Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency, citing the dangerous, wind-whipped grass fires.
“The declaration allows the state to access disaster emergency funds to support the emergency response efforts in Boulder and provide state resources including the use of the Colorado National Guard, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and activation of the State Emergency Operations Center,” Polis said in a news release.
At a 5 p.m. news conference Thursday, he praised emergency responders, many of whom live in the communities that are on fire.
“First responders live here, not knowing the status of their own home, they are still on the front line…doing everything they can to serve others,” Polis said.
As of 5:30 p.m. authorities were unaware of any deaths from the fires.
“We would not be surprised if there are injuries or casualties,” in the fire still raging after dark, Pele said.
Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville was evacuated and patients, including those in the intensive care unit, were transferred to Longmont United Hospital and St. Anthony North Hospital, said Lindsay Radford, a Centura Health spokeswoman. Surgery patients and staff sheltered in place. Roads around the hospital were closed to the public because of the smoke and fire.
UC Health Broomfield Hospital admitted six people Thursday who suffered medical problems because of the fires, spokeswoman Kelli Christensen said.
Area residents who fled the fire assessed what they had left.
Areas of Boulder had under pre-evacuation orders earlier in the day.
Please view the official evacuation area for the #MarshallFire at this point. Also, areas just north of S. Boulder Rd. between Cherryvale/76th up to Arapahoe Rd is in pre-evac notice. pic.twitter.com/p2OZ41rp1O
— Boulder OEM (@BoulderOEM) December 30, 2021
Pre-Evacuation Order Issued for areas listed below in Broomfield ⬇️ https://t.co/ZlDErXuvB6
— CO – Emergency Mgmt (@COEmergency) December 30, 2021
Another video from our photographer @hrichardson shows just how strong the winds are in Superior right now. Evacuations have been ordered as flames from the grass fire spread. https://t.co/epsxPtYUNg pic.twitter.com/3O3AIHqxE9
— The Denver Post (@denverpost) December 30, 2021
Some roads, including Colorado 93, were shut down by the winds and trucks had been toppled.
— Arvada Police (@ArvadaPolice) December 30, 2021
Authorities urged people to stay home and off of area roads if possible as a safety precaution. Broomfield went on accident alert because of the damaging winds and the “rapidly changing situation.”
Late Thursday, Boulder County emergency officials warned residents not to return to evacuation zones to check on their properties.
Residents who evacuated/have property in evacuation zones, please do NOT return to the area. We know that you are concerned about your home/belongings. First responders are working non-stop to keep everyone safe, even as they don’t know the status of their own homes in the area.
— Boulder OEM (@BoulderOEM) December 31, 2021
Road closures at one point included U.S. Highway 36 between Boulder and Lyons, but the highway was reopened, in part, to evacuate Superior. But a stretch of the road was closed in both directions from Interlocken Loop to Baseline Road because of fire.
Grass fires in Boulder included one in the 5500 block of Broadway sometime after 10 a.m. and another in the 1100 block of Cascade Drive. Firefighters responded and contained both those fires.