Prairie fires fanned by high winds destroyed hundreds of homes, injured at least half a dozen people and led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents from two Colorado cities on Thursday, December 30, according to media reports. local.
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Officials said they believe about 580 homes have been lost so far in Superior in the #MarshallFire. https://t.co/uZBsjU7RQa pic.twitter.com/EtX8OEUiM3
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) December 31, 2021
Wind gusts of up to 177 km reported in Boulder, according to the National Weather Service.
According to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, the prairie fire was started by sparks from power lines and transformers knocked down by high winds on the Front Range. This mountain range located east of the Rockies is particularly affected by drought.
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Heavy smoke in the sky over Boulder. © RAY STUBBLEBINE / EPA-EFE
Thousands of evacuations
The city’s 13,000 residents were ordered to evacuate, before the adjacent city of Louisville also gave the order to evacuate, the Boulder County Emergency Management Office said on Twitter.
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Please view the official evacuation area for the #MarshallFire at this point. Also, areas just north of S. Boulder Rd. between Cherryvale/76th up to Arapahoe Rd is in pre-evac notice. pic.twitter.com/p2OZ41rp1O
— Boulder OEM (@BoulderOEM) December 30, 2021
Within hours, the blaze swept across an area of 647.5 hectares and destroyed more than 500 homes, Joe Pelle said at a press briefing.
The sheriff said an entire subdivision of 370 homes had gone up in flames west of Superior, and 210 homes were lost in the Old Town neighborhood of Superior, along with other residences in the area. The material losses also include a shopping center and a hotel in Superior.
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A hotel on fire in Superior, a town on the outskirts of Boulder. © TREVOR HUGHES / USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS
“I would like to emphasize the scale and intensity of this fire and its presence in such a densely populated area, we would not be surprised if there were injuries or deaths”, to have you Joe Pelle.
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