Federal scientists have begun research on whether climate warming may cause an overall increase in wind — inconclusive so far. In the past, gusts west of Boulder reached mph January , said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who is conducting a study on climate warming and wind.
This time, a National Weather Service team in Boulder had issued a high wind warning six hours before the Marshall fire ignited. Yet still, it led to disaster — the latest in a pattern where increasing temperatures coincide with frequent shattering of old norms.
Back in , the post-Thanksgiving Fern Lake wildfire in Rocky Mountain National Park raced three miles in 35 minutes across eight inches of snow to within half a mile of Estes Park. But by the biggest forest fires in state history Cameron Peak at , acres, and East Troublesome at , acres burned in October.
And last year on Super Bowl Sunday Feb. The fires near people are raising fears and frustrations. Climate activists are pressing Gov. Meanwhile the Colorado Fire Commission, tasked by Polis with brainstorming strategies for addressing the fire problem, has been meeting four times a year since October By Bruce Finley bfinley denverpost.
They even had air tankers ready. Fires fueled by heavy winds destroy homes in a subdivision near Level 3 Communications in Superior on Thursday night, Dec. The Marshall fire consumes homes in a subdivision in Superior on Thursday night, Dec.
For the latest updates on the Marshall fire in Boulder County, click here. Pushed due east by mph winds, the Marshall fire sparked late Thursday morning south of Boulder, burning across 6, acres that afternoon and evening, destroying as many as 1, homes and businesses in Superior and Louisville.
The winter wildfire, which exploded amid bone-dry conditions fueled by climate warming , quickly became the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history. In the daylight after a night of fire wreckage, gray snow clouds mixed with smoke and overwhelming fumes hung over the suburban Boulder County neighborhoods.
The random path of destruction was stark as subdivisions like Coal Creek Ranch resembled scenes from disaster movies, with the smoldering debris of one house sitting next to a perfectly intact home. An entire hotel in Superior was swallowed by the flames.
During a Friday morning news conference, Gov. Jared Polis and Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle estimated up to 1, homes in Superior and Louisville may have been destroyed as the roaring wildfire decimated entire subdivisions with shocking speed.
But, in a development officials pointed to as miraculous, there have been no reported deaths connected to the wildfire and no missing persons reported as of Friday afternoon. Though not officially contained, officials said they did not expect the fire to grow larger or cause more significant damage than it already has, but some burned homes and buildings continued to smolder with smoke and lapping flames Friday, even as snow began to fall.
As the fire was still burning, Pelle and other authorities advised residents and people wanting to volunteer to not return to their homes. The Colorado National Guard and police officials blocked entrances to multiple roads and neighborhood entrances, signaling for worried drivers wondering whether their homes were still standing to turn around.
However, climate scientists were unsure how much relief the snow ultimately will provide, given the increasing drought and warm temperatures the Denver metro area has faced this fall. The conditions, which have become more common due to climate change, provided all of the ingredients needed to spark a wildfire, they said. Officials had said Thursday that they believed the Marshall fire likely was sparked by power lines downed by the high winds. However, the Boulder Office of Emergency Management said Friday that Xcel Energy inspected all of its power lines in the ignition area and found none that were down, according to a news update.
Overnight, local authorities lifted all evacuation orders and pre-evacuation warnings for residents outside of Boulder County, including those in Broomfield, Westminster and Arvada. Polis flew over the site of the Marshall fire on Friday morning.
Video from the flight showed smoke rising from the rubble that used to be homes. Whole streets of homes were largely wiped out, with only a few houses still standing. Pelle said the fire destruction was like a mosaic where entire blocks were leveled but then the flames left everything standing around it. Francis statue watches over destroyed townhomes on Owl Drive in Louisville. Kent Crawford, 75, was working from his townhome in the Ridge at Superior development Thursday afternoon, his fireplace roaring with the cable news on in the background.
There are fires. Crawford looked out his window — one of the highest points in Superior, he said — and said emergency vehicles had just pulled up to evacuate his complex. He fled, taking nothing with him but the sweatpants he wore and the jacket on his back. He drove around the city, trying to find a safe place to hunker down and ride it out, but instead watched flames engulf building after building, home after home. The smell. It was surreal. CAwx pic. I hope home is still here when I come back.
Processing how to completely start over and grateful for our health. So many heartbreaking stories from the tragic wildfires ravaging Colorado. This is CU's inside linebackers coach. According to The Colorado Sun , at least homes and businesses in neighborhoods Superior and Louisville east of Boulder burned on Thursday.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle estimated that about 1, homes may have been lost in the wildfires. Cities in Colorado are overrun with wildfire and hundred mile-per-hour winds.
Anyone who denies that we are in the midst of a large-scale climate crisis is not living in reality. We need bold climate action and we need it now. Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency as wildfires burn through Boulder County.
On Thursday, roughly 30, people in the towns of Louisville and Superior were told to leave their homes. Strangely enough there were birds chirping in the blackened trees surrounding these burned homes in the Coal Creek Ranch Subdivision. Such a tragic loss of homes from the Marshallfire. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management has set up a donation site for anyone to give money to those affected by the fires in the area.
Interested parties can donate or access the resources at BoulderOEM. Some Xcel Energy electric and natural gas customers will experience outages connected to the fires, according to the Colorado Sun. At least seven people were injured in the wildfire that erupted in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34, More than homes were feared destroyed. For the thousands of residents whose homes survived the conflagration, Red Cross shelter volunteers distributed electric space heaters as utility crews struggled to restore natural gas and electricity.
Families forced to flee the flames with little warning began returning to their neighborhoods Friday to find a patchwork of devastation. On some blocks, homes reduced to smoking ruins stood next to ones practically unscathed by the fires. In a press conference on Friday Colorado governor Jared Polis said it was a miracle that there have been no deaths after a fire ripped through Boulder County on Thursday.
Leah Angstman told the Associated Press that the sky was dark brown and dirt was blowing around in swirls like snakes. Hospitals in the southeast of Boulder County were evacuated, including patients in intensive care. Theb image below shows a man looking through the snow-covered remains of his brother's burned homes after the Marshall Wildfire in Louisville, Colorado.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed as the wildfire spread through suburbs outside of Denver on Thursday. A Twitter user shared images of the before and after of Boulder county in Colorado after fires ripped through the area on Thursday.
This is my home.
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