Residents of Boulder County cities Superior and Louisville were evacuated after the Marshall Fire destroyed up to 1,000 homes in the area on January 6, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said on Friday, December 31. Local authorities overnight lifted all evacuation orders and pre-evacuation warnings for residents outside of Boulder County, including those in Broomfield and Westminster, as cooler temperatures and lighter winds slowed the wildfire that forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

As of Tuesday, January 4, 2022, the Marshall Fire covered 6,026 acres and was 100 percent contained on the perimeter, but heat still existed within the perimeter, which included areas among structures, according to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

The assessment of impacted structures and neighborhoods remains ongoing with evacuation statuses changing when areas are determined to be safe for residents to return. Visit the Boulder OEM website (www.boulderOEM.com) for the most up-to-date information on evacuations and road closures.

“Crews are continuing to remove heat in vegetation and around impacted structures while preparing for the forecasted winds associated with winter weather returning to the area on Wednesday. Fire crews are working in coordination with utility crews and law enforcement to complete their work of repopulating communities in a safe and timely manner. Night shift firefighters and law enforcement remain engaged in their duties in both soft and hard closure areas.”

For the latest information about evacuation status, visit https://www.boulderoem.com/emergency-status/For information on fire restrictions in Boulder County, visit https://www.bouldercounty.org/news/stage-1-fire-restrictions-beginnovember 30-clarified/.

“Hard closures” and “soft closures” are in place across the affected area. “Hard closures” are defined as areas where only responders and support staff are allowed; “soft closures” are areas where residents are allowed restricted access to their property.

Only residents with addresses within a soft closure area are allowed to enter the area. Any non-residents in the fire area, or anyone accessing areas that have not been deemed safe, will continue to hamper the clearance process of impacted areas.

Gilpin County and Nederland agencies assisted in working on the fire. The Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office, the Timberline Fire Protection District and Nederland Fire Departments all assisted. Gilpin County Emergency Manager Nate Whittington took the County’s shelter trailer down to Boulder, and was on call for Jefferson County.

Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong said the Sheriff’s Office could provide only one deputy, because the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office has people who are ill, but they offered some assistance and have stayed in touch with the operations center. The Timberline Fire Protection District sent two engines. “We are trying to keep some resources up here with the storm coming in,” Armstrong said. It has been snowing steadily, and the roads are packed.”

Gilpin County Commissioner Sandy Hollingsworth helped gather 80 coats for fire victims, cleaned and delivered them.

The Nederland Fire Department also sent resources to Boulder County, but because they need to keep Nederland safe they couldn’t send too much, according to Nederland Fire Department Public Information Director Eric Abramson, who has served the department for 26 years. The Department was asked to bring their big truck, which is a primary wildland engine with off-road capability.

Abramson went down, along with Lieutenant Andrew Joslin, Administrator Jim Harrison, Fire Marshal Rik Henrikson, Board Chair Iain Erwin- Powell, Captain Kociemba-Benson, Captain Connor Moran, Captain Charlie Schmidtmann, and Captain Michael Scott.

Moran and Scott Papich brought a patient to the hospital and spent most of the evening moving patients. They also moved a paramedic out of his house. The ambulance and engineer got into 100 mph winds.

The fire was everywhere, but they saved five to six homes, Abramson said. “It was totally chaos and hundreds of homes. We were in western Superior. So many homes have damage, and that will freeze.

“It’s a testament to the county preparation, and it has been preparing for that. It’s one of the few most challenging hours I have spent on a fire truck,” Abramson said. On December 31, the Nederland Fire Department sent the engine and the water tender.

According to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management, firefighters worked overnight and continued to work on December 31 to extinguish the fire and active hot spots in the area. “We were fortunate that the winds dissipated last night, and today’s snow is helping firefighting efforts; however, the snow alone will not be enough to completely extinguish the fire, and we’ll continue to have firefighting resources on the ground. That being said, we don’t expect the fire to grow significantly moving ahead due to the favorable weather.”

First responders are addressing active hot spots, downed power lines, trees at risk of falling, conducting searches of properties, making damage assessments, and investigating the cause of the fire.

On December 30, residents of Louisville and Superior were placed under a boil water notice. This is due to issues with the water pressure causing potential water contamination.

The full investigation is still ongoing. Updates will be shared as they become available.

For those who want to volunteer, please visit: ColoradoResponds.org. For those wishing to make financial donations, you may do so through https:// www.coloradogives.org/ bouldercountywildfirefund? step=step1 and redcross.org. Additional donations can be facilitated through forms on Boulder OEM’s website, https://www.boulderoem.com/emergency-status/.

U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse said: “My heart is with our entire community, and especially those directly impacted by the Marshall Fire. While we’re still gathering more information – and working diligently with the federal, state, and local government – what we do know is that this is one of the most horrendous wildfires in our state’s history, and many of our neighbors are really hurting right now.

“As families and businesses in Superior, Louisville and Boulder County just begin to recover, I know those across our state and country are looking to assist in any way possible.”

Colorado Representative for House District 13, Judy Amabile said the devastation in our community is overwhelming and comes on top of crisis after crisis.

“For the many thousands of people impacted, the losses are much more than structures and stuff. People have lost their sense of safety, their shelter, their homes. We have to pull together again, be resilient, and support one another. It’s going to be a long haul.”

Not all structures within the burn area were impacted. Continue to check the OEM website, https://www.boulderoem.com/emergency-status/. For the latest information about evacuation status, visit https://www.boulderoem.com/ emergency-status/over the next day or so. For general information and resources for those evacuated, contact the Boulder County Fire Emergency Call Center at 303-413-7730. Do not call 911.