Colorado's Boulder County was beset in flames on Thursday afternoon that officials said were caused by strong winds sparked by downed power lines and has caused hundreds of destroyed homes and thousands displaced.
Christian News Now said winds of 100mph have caused the flames to encompass 1,600 hectares that have torched more than 500 homes and prompted at least 30,000 people to evacuate the areas affected, which included hospitals. The fire have also caused major highways to be closed and six people hospitalized.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said during a conference on the incident that "the end (of the fire) won't come until the wind subsides," such that the firefighting was still ongoing on Saturday.
"This is the kind of fire you can't fight head on," Pelle said.
In addition, the Denver Post reported that the residents of Superior--12,000 in total affected--and Louisville--20,000 in total affected--needed evacuation. There was also a total of 200 structures that included a hotel "lost to the flames" in Superior and that "300 homes were on fire in a single neighborhood." Evacuations had to be done first in Superior then in Louisville before parts of Broomfield.
The notice on the evacuations were announced by the Broomfield Police Department along with street closures, traffic advisories, evacuation maps, and evacuation centers in line with the fire. Mandatory evacuations were only announced on Friday through the Boulder Office of Emergency Management and the Louisville Fire Command.
The fire could be seen while traversing Highway 128 "looking east...north of Rocky Flats", the Broomfield Police said, While footage taken by the Broomfield Patrol Officers in Superior showed streaks of houses on fire could be seen while driving east of US-36 on Friday, December 31.
Despite the extent and length of the Marshal Fire, The Christian Post highlighted that there was no one reported killed in the fires, prompting Colorado Governor Jared Polis to call it a "miracle."
"We might have our very own New Year's miracle on our hands, if it holds up that there was no loss of life. We know that many people had just minutes to evacuate," Polis said in a press conference.
An immediate concern, however, are people reported missing. Boulder Office of Emergency Management Spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill told the Colorado Sun that two are reported missing so far. On the other hand, CBN News reported that three are missing because of the wildfire and one has been found as per The Wall Street Journal.
Pelle nevertheless finds this a miracle in itself, raising that the reported number of persons missing pales in comparison to the extent of the devastation caused by the Marshal fire.
"It's unbelievable when you look at the devastation that we don't have a list of 100 missing persons," Pelle told the Associated Press.
Various organizations have already reached out to assist with the needs of the communities affected by the wildfire, such as the Community Foundation Boulder that has collected through its giving campaign a total of $1,200,000 and the Salvation Army that provides free meals to first responders and evacuees.
Good Samaritans from among those who didn't lose their homes have also volunteered to provide moral support and distribute donations to those affected like high school senior Noah Sarasin.
"We have a house, no heat, but we still have a house. I just want to make sure that everyone else has heat on this very cold day," Sarasin said.
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Correction: Updated the headline to correct the spelling of the word "Wildfire." We apologize for this mistake.
