WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (BNA) – An estimated 580 homes, hotels and a shopping mall have burned down and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated amid wind-stirred wildfires outside Denver, officials said Thursday night.
At least one respondent and six others were injured, although Boulder County Sheriff Joe Bailey acknowledged that more injuries and deaths could be possible due to the intensity of the fires that quickly swept through the area with winds reaching 105 mph (169 km/h). hour). ).
Bailey said the first fire broke out shortly before 10:30 a.m. and was “attacked very quickly and laid out later in the day and is currently being monitored” with no structures missing.
Bailey said a second bushfire, reported shortly after 11 a.m., “spread and spread rapidly eastward.” The fire spans 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers) and has engulfed parts of the area in an orange-smoky sky, sending residents scrambling to reach safety.
The activity of the fires, which burn unusually late in the winter, will depend on how the winds behave overnight and can determine when crews will be able to get in and begin assessing damage and searching for any casualties, the Associated Press reports.
Evacuation orders were issued for the city of Louisville, which has a population of about 21,000, and the city of Superior, which has a population of 13,000.
Neighboring cities lie about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver in an area full of middle- and upper-class subdivisions surrounded by malls, parks, and schools. Located between Denver and Boulder, the area is a mountainside town belonging to the University of Colorado.
The residents were evacuated fairly quietly and orderly, but the winding streets in the suburbs soon became clogged as people tried to get out. Sometimes it took the cars 45 minutes to advance half a mile (less than one kilometer).
Small fires broke out here and there in surprising places – on the lawn in the middle or in the garbage in the middle of the parking lot – where gusts of wind caused the fire to break out and spread. The changing winds caused the sky to turn from clear to smoke and then back again as sirens sounded nearby.
Several fires broke out in the area on Thursday due to downed power lines.
Six people injured in the fires are receiving treatment at UCHealth Broomfield, spokeswoman Kelly Christensen said. A nearby section of US Highway 36 has also been closed.
insult