A Colorado wildfire that authorities say was accidentally started by two transient men has destroyed eight homes.
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Colorado’s largest current wildfire – Beaver Creek Fire – has blackened more than 30 square miles of beetle-killed timber in the northwest part of the state near Wyoming. In a statement, the sheriff’s office said “the men face a felony arson charge because lives were endangered as a result of the fire”.
Authorities determined the origin of the fire was at a campsite near the Peak-to-Peak Highway and Cold Springs Road. The two men, along with a female friend, were camping on private property and had established a campfire overnight Thursday into Friday morning.
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 Cold Springs Fire has burned 536 acres near Boulder County about two miles northeast of Nederland.
CBS4)- Fire crews continued their attack on the Cold Springs Fire as the wildfire continued to grow in Boulder County on Monday as more homes were lost.
The fire at this time is still zero percent contained, but Boerkircher said the term “containment” refers more to the likelihood the fire will not spread rather than the area it has burned.
Resident Lee Kennedy was evacuated from her home on Ridge Road, but she got a glimpse of the fire before she left, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.
Less than a half-hour later, officials alerted an unknown number of residents in the Magnolia area that the mandatory evacuation order had been lifted.
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The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said Sunday people in about 170 homes should be ready to leave on a moment’s notice. According to the Incident Information System officials note that, “predictions of fire growth indicate the potential for significant structure and infrastructure loss”. Evacuation centers are now set up at Nederland High School (located about four miles east of Eldora) and the East Boulder Recreation Center.
