The remains of homes that were burned in the wildfires are surrounded by debris. Tens of thousands of Coloradans were driven from their homes. In this photo, David Zalubowski.
SUPERIOR, Colo. A couple returned home Friday to find the mailbox empty. Cars and a trampoline were burned outside. The homes that were reduced to smoking ruins stood next to the ones that were undamaged by the fire.
Colorado residents were driven from their neighborhoods by a terrifying, wind-whipped wildfire and had their first look at the damage the morning after, while others waited and wondered if their homes were destroyed.
At least seven people were injured, but there were no reports of deaths or anyone missing in the aftermath of the fire outside Denver.
Glaab found that her home in the town of Superior had been burned to the ground. There were seven houses that burned to the ground.
Glaab tried to break a smile through tears when he said the mailbox was standing. She said, sadly, "So many memories."
She said they intend to rebuild the house they have had since 1998. They love that the land backs up to a natural space and they have a view of the mountains from the back.
A wildfire erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, a town with a combined population of 34,000.
Tens of thousands of people were ordered to flee as the flames swept over the neighborhoods with alarming speed.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Utility officials found no downed power lines when they inspected the area after the fire broke out.
On the day after, David Marks stood on a hillside overlooking Superior with others, using a borrowed pair of binoculars and a long camera lens to see if his house and those of his neighbors were still there.
He thinks his home is okay, but he won't know for sure until police let residents back in. Marks said at least three friends lost their homes.
The neighborhood burned as he watched from the hillside.
The houses were completely engulfed when he arrived. It happened so fast. I have never seen anything like that before.
The winds had died down and the towering flames that had lit up the night sky had dissipated. Light snow soon began to fall, raising hopes that it could be used to eliminate hot spots.
The fire had burned at least 9.4 square miles but was no longer considered an immediate threat by late morning.
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The fire broke out late in the year, after an extremely dry fall, and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow.
The sheriff said that more than 500 homes were destroyed. He and the governor said as many as 1,000 homes may have been lost, but that won't be known until crews are able to assess the damage.
The sheriff said it was unbelievable that there was no list of missing persons.
Some communities were reduced to smoking holes in the ground. He warned that it was still too dangerous in many neighborhoods because of fire and fallen power lines, and urged residents to wait for the all-clear to go back.
Sarah Owens and her family got out of their home in Superior within 10 minutes of learning about the evacuate on Facebook. Everyone tried to leave by way of the winding streets of the Rock Creek neighborhood, but it took them 1 12 hours to go 2 miles.
When they got to a pet-friendly hotel, their cellphones and computers couldn't provide them with the only information they wanted to know: Was their house still standing?
Owens said that the house may be okay.
She said she would have a bag packed in case of another fire.
Owens never thought a brush fire could cause such destruction. I want to stay here. There are always going to be natural disasters, no matter where you live.
Mike and his family were relaxing at their home in Superior and looking forward to celebrating Christmas, when reports of a nearby grass fire quickly gave way to an order to leave.
Instead of opening gifts, the family of four, including three children and three dogs, were staying at a friend's house in Denver, hoping that the firefighter who told them their house was still standing was correct.
He said that the presents are still under the tree.
Sophia Verucchi and Tony Victor returned to their apartment in Broomfield, on the edge of Superior, to find that it was undamaged. They fled the previous day with just Victor and their cat.
We thought it was a joke. We felt like we were going to come back. At 5 o'clock, we thought maybe we weren't coming back. They got an email in the morning saying it was okay to return.
Verucchi said that they feel lucky after seeing the news and all the houses burning.
The towns have middle- and upper-middle-class subdivisions with shopping centers, parks and schools. The University of Colorado is located in the area.
Climate change is making the weather more extreme.
Boulder County has not seen much precipitation since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm.
The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative has a corps member. Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Brady McCombs is a writer for the Associated Press.
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More than 500 homes, a hotel and a shopping center have been burned in the fires outside of Denver. 30)
In Louisville, Colorado, and Superior, Colorado, over 20,000 people are under orders to leave.
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A state of emergency has been declared for 30,000 people north of Denver.
More than 500 homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in the area. The intensity of the fires that swept across the region as winds gusted up to 105 mph could cause more injuries and deaths, though Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle acknowledged there could be more. The first fire erupted just before 10:30 a.m. and was attacked quickly and laid down later in the day, with no structures lost.
The morning of December 31 brought a view of Boulder County, Colorado, in the aftermath of wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes and led thousands to evacuate. Storyful has a video of Thomas Quay Williams.
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The Boulder County emergency management office said on Thursday that all residents of Superior and Louisville were ordered to evacuate. The fires were believed to have been caused by sparks from power lines and transformers that were knocked down by high winds.
More than 30,000 people were forced to leave their homes in Boulder and Jefferson County due to the fires. Strong winds knocked down power lines, sparking the fires.
Several hundred homes, a hotel and a shopping center have burned and thousands of people were evacuated in wind- fueled wildfires outside Denver, officials said Thursday evening.
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The wind-whipped wildfire that barreled through suburban parts of Boulder County, Colorado, still posed a threat Friday morning.
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Tens of thousands of people were evacuated after high winds caused two fires.
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Thousands of people are evacuated as Colorado fires burn hundreds of homes.
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The fire is a force of nature, according to Colorado Gov.
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The governor of Colorado said Friday that President Biden would offer an expedited major disaster declaration to help rebuild and provide aid to those that lost their homes in the Marshall Fire. Get market news that's worth your time. More than 30,000 people were ordered to leave their homes because of the rapidly- moving flames.
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A state of emergency was declared by Colorado Gov.Jared Polis on Thursday, December 30, after winds that gusted up to 115 mph blew southeast of Boulder, compounding the fires. David K Besnette is the author of Storyful.
