3 people missing and nearly 1,000 homes destroyed in Colorado wildfire
Three people are missing and 991 homes have been destroyed in a rare December wildfire, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Saturday. Two of the missing people are from Superior, Colorado, and one is from the Marshall area, CBS Denver reports.
Pelle said 553 homes were destroyed in the town of Louisville, 332 homes were destroyed in Superior and another 106 homes were destroyed in an unincorpoated area outside Boulder. Over 30,000 people have evacuated the area since Thursday.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.
The Marshall Fire erupted quickly due to dry conditions and hurricane force winds. Firefighters knew that initially they could not fight a fire driven by winds of 100 miles an hour and more. They along with police officers and sheriff deputies set to work getting people moving.
"They got on it early. The firemen and the police cars were coming through the neighborhood telling people to evacuate," said evacuee Matthew Hoffman. "So people were on it and they got on it early. And because of that I think lives were saved."
Many, like Elizabeth McKenzie, had only a matter of minutes to pack and leave. She was home with her three children when they were ordered to flee.
She said she gathered basic essentials, her kids and the family dog. The small car she was driving didn't have enough room for their cats. She had to make the difficult decision to leave them behind and locked them in the basement so that smoke would be less likely to make its way to them if the house was spared.
For people who were in life or death situations, moments made a difference.
"I feel like I made it out with my life and that's I think the most important thing," said Jessi Delaplain, who lost her home to the fire.
"I gathered myself and I gathered my cats which was no easy feat to stuff them into the car. And I pulled out of the driveway and there were flames surrounding us."
The evacuation should be studied to create a best practices understanding that could help in the future, noted Gary Briese, executive director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs Association. Boulder County's online emergency warning system does not have great participation numbers. But as CBS Denver reports, people found out.
The Marshall Fire was in a wide open area where smoke could be seen from a distance and the raging winds certainly grabbed attention of people. Firefighters and law enforcement moved rapidly though.
"I just think they were on their megaphones and they were going through neighborhood," said Hoffman.
There were certainly traffic jams as people fled. But police were nearby to act.
"[Highway] 287 was an absolute parking lot," said evacuee Aaron Frost. "So I took Empire Road I think it is up to 42. Again parking lot. And that's where everything just stopped. We had almost no visibility. The police were escorting and detouring us around."
