John Scarffe

Peak to Peak

Residents of Boulder County cities Superior and Louisville were evacuated after the Marshall Fire destroyed up to 1,000 homes in the area on December 30, 2021, Governor Jared Polis and Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said on Friday. 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.

The Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office, the Timberline Fire District, and Nederland Fire Departments all assisted with the fire. Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong said they are at hold for right now. County Emergency Manager Nate Whittington took the County’s shelter trailer down to Boulder, where he is on call for Jefferson County. 

The Gilpin Sheriff’s Office could provide only one deputy, because they have 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,” Sheriff Armstrong said. “It has been snowing steadily, and the roads are packed up.” 

The Nederland Fire Department also sent resources down but must be careful to keep Nederland safe, so they couldn’t send too much aid, according to NFD 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. 

Four people were on the truck, including Abramson, Andrew Joslin, P.J. Moon, and J. Hill. Since the County was so busy, their job included going to county hospitals. Connor Moran and Scott Papich brought a patient to the hospital and spent most of the evening evacuating patients and moving a paramedic out of his house. 

The ambulance and engine faced 100 mile per hour winds. The fire was everywhere, but they saved five to six homes, Abramson said. “It was total chaos and hundreds of homes. We were in western Superior. So many homes have damage, and that will freeze, but we have no missing people and no one dead. 

“It’s a testament to the County's preparation that they have been preparing for that. It’s one of the few most challenging hours I have spent on a fire truck,” Abramson added. On Friday, December 31, the NFD 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.”

Governor Polis and Sheriff Pelle flew over the area Friday morning to assess the damage and said they know that 1,778 homes reside within the burn area, but this is not necessarily the number of homes destroyed. “We were able to save many homes. We hope to have more information today or Saturday and will release an update on the number of homes destroyed.” 

As of Friday evening, the fire had spread to about 6,000 acres, with 580 homes destroyed. Sheriff Pelle said it would not be surprising if the number of homes destroyed totaled around 1,000.

Downed power lines were found Thursday in the burn area and they are expected to have led to the cause of the fire, Pelle said, but sheriff’s deputies are investigating the official cause today.

Residents are not allowed to go into the evacuation areas, which are still dangerous. 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. As soon as residents can safely return to the area to check on their homes, that information will be made available. 

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

A large section of Highway U.S. 36 remained closed as of Friday evening, with additional road closures in the impacted area. Please check the Boulder OEM website for the latest road closure updates. Additionally, all trailheads east of Highway 93 to McCaslin and south of South Boulder Road to Highway 128 are closed. 

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

Boulder County OEM has a community call center established, with information concerning the fires’ impact on Boulder County. It can be reached at 303-413-7730. Any community members with questions or needs are encouraged to call here instead of 911.

According to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management, initial reports of the fire were from residents who claimed to have seen downed power lines in or near the ignition area. Xcel Energy has been a responsive and invaluable partner. As of Friday evening, they have inspected all of their lines within the ignition area and found no downed power lines. 

They did find some compromised communication lines that may have been misidentified as power lines. Typically, communications lines (telephone, cable, internet, etc.) would not be the cause of a fire. The full investigation is still ongoing. Updates will be shared as they become available. 

U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse said that the last 24 hours have been truly devastating for Colorado and the people of Boulder County. “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.” 

Judy Amabile, Colorado Representative for House District 13, 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 https://www.boulderoem.com/emergency-status/?emci=c65b9897-686a-ec11-94f6-0003ffc5857e&emdi=84c81374-716a-ec11-94f6-0003ffc5857e&ceid=28015819 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. 

To sign up for volunteer opportunities: https://helpcoloradonow.us9.list-manage.com/subscribeu=b77468abc1a7769e5defa7c90&id=edc4ffc2dd&emci=c65b9897-686a-ec11-94f6-0003ffc5857e&emdi=84c81374-716a-ec11-94f6-0003ffc5857e&ceid=28015819.

Please do not self-deploy or take used household items to shelters.