The men are facing felony charges “because lives were endangered as a result of the fire”, the statement said.
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Suggs and Kuykendall were arrested Sunday at an evacuation shelter. The two men, along with a woman, were camping on private property and had established a campfire overnight Thursday into Friday morning. “The men did not ensure that the fire was properly extinguished by dousing it with water or making sure the ashes were cool to the touch before leaving the site”, Wagner said.
It is believed, the sheriff’s office added, that high winds in the area, combined with the weather that has hovered above 90 degrees for much of the weekend, allowed the fire to smolder longer than it might have otherwise.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says there are 30 more homes in the path of the fire.
More than 1,900 people have been evacuated, and many others are being told to be ready to go at a moment’s notice because unpredictable winds could shift the flames in any direction.
Around 1,253 people were evacuated from areas north and west of Boulder Canyon and east of Peak to Peak Highway on Saturday.
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said Sunday people in about 170 homes should be ready to leave on a moment’s notice. Authorities say dozens of more homes are in the path of the fire.
After a “good day” on Tuesday, crews have managed to reach some level of containment on the 528-acre fire for the first time since it started on Saturday.
Homes in the surrounding areas experienced power outage. Evacuation centers are now set up at Nederland High School (located about four miles east of Eldora) and the East Boulder Recreation Center. “A, so we know about it in case a neighbor sees it and calls us, and B, so we can alert you to be aware of any restrictions that may be in place”, Hurst said.
Five homes were initially thought to have been destroyed by the fire near the mountain town of Nederland, roughly 20 miles west of Boulder.
A reverse emergency notification message was sent to 67 individuals in the Sugarloaf area that the mandatory evacuation order had been lifted.
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Firefighters will still use their airplanes and helicopters but face random, illegal drone flights as one more hazard, said Megan Saylors, spokeswoman for a team of agencies fighting the 3.6-square-mile fire about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.
