Two wildfires that started Wednesday, Jan. 7th in Boudler, Colorado have burned more than 1,000 acres of forest area and came dangerously close to homes in the surrounding areas. The Neva Road and Old Stage fires, which started Wednesday afternoon, are 100% contained but local residents are still concerned about hot spots from smoldering stumps and other brush that were not fully extinguished. The two fires burned within a perimeter of over 3,000 acres and 1,008 acres were completely scorched by the blaze.
The fires were started by downed power lines from wind gusts that reached over 80mph on wednesday. Wind speeds of over 40mph made it a challenge for firefighters to keep the blaze under control during the afternoon, but by early Thursday morning they had most of the fire contained. Over 11,000 local residents of the Boulder/Niwot area were forced to evacuate the area, and many of these residents lived on properties where animals were kept. Extra efforts by the Boulder Sherrifs office had to be made to assist in the evactuation of horses and other animal residents of the endangered properties.
As of today Friday, Jan 9th, the two fires are 100% contained. A total of six structures were damaged or destroyed: three houses and three outbuildings. There were also two firefighters injured as well as one police officer. As winds died down early Thursday morning it made it easier for firefighters and emergency personell alike to extinguish the fire and return the evacuees to their households. Today all evacuees were allowed to return to their residences, but some are still worried about the hotspots as wind gusts have been reported as high as 50mph today.
I want to extend my personal thanks to those that assisted in this emergency as they did an excellent job in extinguishing the fire and helping the citizens of Boulder and their animals in evacuating the endangered area. I’m sure the end result could have been much worse if the firefighters got to the area later than they had; then the City of Boulder would have been endangered, and that would have been a hectic situation to deal with. Below are some pictures of the fire:
