Colorado wildfires burn hundreds of homes, forcing evacuations
DENVER (AP) – Several hundred homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and thousands of people have to be evacuated in the wind-powered wildfires outside Denver, officials said late Friday night. Thursday.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said only one injury had been reported, but did not rule out the subsequent discovery of more serious injuries or deaths.
Wildfires have engulfed parts of the area in a smoky sky.
The city of Louisville, with a population of about 21,000, was ordered to evacuate after residents of Superior, which has 13,000 residents, were told to leave. Nearby towns are about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Denver.
The blaze was among several that started in the area on Thursday, at least some sparked by collapsed power lines, as winds gusted up to 105 mph (169 km/h), according to the Service. National Weather.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The previous AP story follows.
DENVER (AP) – Thousands of residents in two communities near Denver were ordered to evacuate Thursday as a wind-driven wildfire flooded parts of the area in a smoky sky.
The city of Louisville, with a population of about 21,000, was ordered to evacuate after residents of Superior, which has 13,000 residents, were told to leave. Nearby towns are about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Denver.
The blaze was among several that started in the area on Thursday, at least some sparked by collapsed power lines, as winds gusted up to 105 mph (169 km/h), according to the Service. National Weather.
Videos taken by residents show buildings on fire, though officials have yet to provide any information. They were scheduled to speak at a press conference on Thursday night.
Spokesperson Kelli Christensen said six people injured in the fire were being treated at UCHealth Broomfield Hospital. A nearby section of US Highway 36 was also closed.
Colorado’s Front Range, where most of the state’s population lives, has had an extremely dry and mild fall, and winters have so far continued to be mostly dry. However, snow is expected on Friday in the area.
A video taken by an outsider outside a Superior Costco store shows the apocalypse with winds blowing through barren trees in a parking lot surrounded by gray skies, a dim sun and clouds. Small fires scattered on the ground.
Leah Angstman and her husband saw similar dark skies when returning to their Louisville home from Denver International Airport from vacation. As they were sitting on the bus heading toward Boulder, Angstman recalls immediately leaving the clear blue sky and entering clouds of brown and yellow smoke.
“The wind shook the bus so hard that I thought the bus would overturn,” she wrote in a message to the Associated Press.
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Smoke from a wildfire rises in the background, Thursday, December 30, 2021, in Superior, Colo. All 13,000 residents of the northern Colorado town were ordered to evacuate Thursday because of a wildfire caused by strong winds. (AP Photo / David Zelio) -
A Brookfield Police officer directs motorists along the Flatiron Crossing Drive of the Flatiron Crossing Mall as a wildfire burns near the mall on Thursday, December 30, 2021, near Broomfield, Colo. . Homes around the center are being evacuated as wildfires spread through grasslands and high winds rake the West. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski) -
Smoke from the wildfire rises into the air north of Denver on Thursday, December 30, 2021. Thousands of residents in two communities near Denver were ordered to evacuate Thursday because of the wildfires engulfed by winds. parts of the area in a smoky sky. (AP Photo / Peter Orsi) -
Firefighters spray water on the fire of a structure as a wildfire breaks out, Thursday, December 30, 2021, in Superior, Colo. Thousands of residents in Superior and Louisville, two communities near Denver, were ordered to evacuate Thursday because a wind-powered wildfire engulfed parts of the area in a smoky sky. (AP Photo / David Zelio) -
A fire truck moves through the parking lot of the Flatiron Crossing Shopping Center as a wildfire burns near the mall Thursday, December 30, 2021, near Broomfield, Colo. Homes around the mall were being evacuated as wildfires raced through grasslands as high winds blew through intermountain West. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski)
Visibility was so poor that the bus pulled over and they waited for half an hour until a regional transit truck escorted them to the turn on the highway. There she saw four separate fires burning in the bushes across the freeway, she said.
“The sky was dark, dark brown, and the dust swirled across the pavement like snakes,” she said.
Angstman then ended up evacuating, got in the car with her husband, and drove northeast with no idea where they were going.
Vignesh Kasinath, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder, evacuated a neighborhood in Superior with his wife and her parents. Kasinath said the family was overwhelmed by the sudden evacuation warning and worried about the chaos while trying to leave.
“Only because I am active on Twitter did I know about this,” said Kasinath, who said he did not receive an official evacuation notice from authorities.
The fire prompted Governor Jared Polis to declare a state of emergency, giving the state access to disaster emergency funds.
Evacuations happen as climate change is doing more severe weather and more frequent and more destructive wildfires, the scientists said. ONE historical drought and heat waves have made wildfires harder to fight in the western United States.
https://wgntv.com/news/2-colorado-cities-evacuated-by-wind-driven-wildfire/ Colorado wildfires burn hundreds of homes, forcing evacuations