Jan 2, 2022: Three people are missing and are feared dead after a wind driven wildfire raged in two towns in the US state of Colorado, displacing thousands of people and destroying nearly a thousand homes.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Saturday that the three missing people, whom he refused to identify, were all living in homes that had been engulfed in flames.
Authorities initially said there were no reports of casualties or missing residents following a rare urban forest fire that broke out Thursday morning on the northern outskirts of the Denver metropolitan area. Winds of more than 100 miles per hour pushed the flames eastward into the towns of Superior and Louisville, signaling the evacuation of both communities. In about two hours, the fire burned 6,000 acres, officials said.
Teams will be deployed to search for the missing, Sherrif Pelle said. But the work is complicated by the rubble of the destroyed structure, which is covered with eight inches of snow that was thrown overnight by the storm, he said.
At least seven people were also injured in the fire.
The Sheriff also said 991 homes in Superior, Louisville and in unincorporated parts of the county have been destroyed, making it the most destructive wildfire in state history in terms of residences lost.
Officials initially said sparks from downed power lines that were toppled by the gale-force winds may have sparked the blaze, but an inspection by utility company Xcel Energy found no damaged or downed lines near the fire’s believed origin.
Pelle said detectives are investigating all avenues to determine what ignited the conflagration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that US President Joe Biden called the scene a “national disaster” by releasing federal funds to help those affected and businesses recover. In Boulder County on Saturday, snow and temperature in single figures presented a grim picture amidst the stinking remains of homes.
The smell of smoke still lingered in the empty streets as utility staff struggled to restore electricity and gas service to the homes that survived. Dozens of people line up at Red Cross shelters for donated space heaters, bottled water and blankets.
The wildfires erupted unusually late at the end of the year, after a very dry autumn and an overnight snowfall between almost snow-free winters. The strong winds pushed the flames, which fed the vegetation in the open, along with the dry grasslands and farmland and suburban subdivisions.
Climate change is making the weather more severe and forest fires more frequent and devastating, scientists say. Ninety percent of Boulder County is experiencing severe drought, and has not seen significant rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record without snow for days in a row before a small storm struck on December 10, the last snowfall before a wildfire.
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