'A horrific event': 991 structures destroyed, three missing in Marshall Fire

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SUPERIOR, Colo. — Grass fires fueled by high winds destroyed hundreds of homes in Boulder County December 30; thousands of Coloradans had to flee their homes.

According to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, nearly 600 homes were destroyed in Superior as of 5 p.m. Thursday: Approximately 370 of them in the Sagamore subdivision and another 210 in Old Town Superior.

Pelle said during a press conference that the Element Hotel in Superior was "fully involved" and that the Target shopping center was also damaged.

In the press conference, Pelle said there were no reported missing persons or deaths, but that that could change due to the scale of the fire.

If you evacuated your home and have questions about the route you should take or the status of your property, call 303-413-7730.

These are evacuation sites:

 

The first three sites listed are overnight shelters. If you are contagious with COVID-19 and need to evacuate, go to the COVID Recover Center at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church (3485 Stanford Ct, Boulder, CO, 80305).

Around 2 p.m., an evacuation order was issued for the City of Louisville.

“In the case of evacuation head east or north,” the city's police department tweeted. “Do not evacuate to the south.”

Governor Jared Polis declared a state of emergency around 3:15 p.m.

"The declaration allows the state to access disaster emergency funds to support the emergency response efforts in Boulder and provide state resources including the use of the Colorado National Guard, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and activation of the State Emergency Operations Center," the governor's office said in a news release.

The harrowing grass fires—unusual for this time of year—were made worse by high winds. Some areas near Boulder County saw wind gusts up to 105 miles per hour Thursday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Boulder OEM is posting frequent updates on its website. You can follow along here.

Emergency officials cautioned against driving unless absolutely necessary. The Boulder Police Department tweeted that smoke is making it hard for drivers to see, thus clogging the roads and making it more difficult for first responders.

Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, which is operated by Centura Health, evacuated its NICU, ICU and emergency department patients because of the fire. The patients were transported to Longmont United Hospital and St. Anthony North Hospital.

If you have a loved one who is a patient at Avista Adventist Hospital, you can call 303-661-1848 for updates.

On Twitter, Polis said, "Prayers for thousands of families evacuating from the fires in Superior and Boulder County."

"Please keep the people of Boulder County and our firefighters in your prayers as we grapple with terrible and unprecedented fires in our community," U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Lafayette) tweeted.

Boulder County will be under a winter storm warning starting December 31 at 5 a.m. The NWS said the area could see up to 8 inches of snow. However, a majority of Boulder County is currently in "extreme drought," according to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Kyle Cooke is the digital media manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org.

How you can help 

Community Foundation of Boulder County has set up a fund to help those who have been impacted by the fire. If you're looking to donate, you can do that here. You can also donate to the American Red Cross of Colorado.

If you have shelter to offer to victims, you can sign up to be a vetted host on Airbnb and you will be alerted through the company's Open Homes Program if you are needed.

Timeline of events

The fires started Thursday morning. The first fire was the Middle Fork Fire, but that fire did not destroy any homes.

The Marshall Fire has been much more vicious. It started around 11 a.m. near South Foothills Highway and Marshall Road. As of 5 p.m., it had grown to 1,600 acres.

"This fire was consuming football field lengths of land in seconds," the sheriff said. "This was a horrific event."

Pelle believes that both fires were caused by downed power lines.

Due to Thursday's extremely high winds, aerial firefighting was not an option. Pelle said the fire won't be over until the wind subsides.

Just before 1 p.m., the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management announced an evacuation order for all of Superior.