Flames burst over a ridge line just above houses near Gold Hill Monday, Sept. 6. Local authorities have reported several structures have been caught in the flames of a brush fire that started in Fourmile Canyon around 10 Monday morning. Area residents were asked to evacuate. (CU Independent/Lauren Walter)
Last updated September 12 at 11:48 a.m.
There is a large brush fire in Fourmile Canyon, the fire is currently 6,427-acres large and has caused the evacuations of 3,000 residents, according to a Boulder County news release.
More than 1,000 firefighters are currently helping to battle the blaze. The fire is 73 percent contained at this point. According to a Boulder Police Department news release the Boulder Reservoir is being closed to the public as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. The area will be used to shelter firefighters who are fighting the fire.
The fire started at approximately 10 Monday morning on Fourmile Canyon Road near Emerson Gulch, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 10 Thursday morning residents in the Boulder Heights, Pine brook Hills and Carriage Heights were allowed to return to their homes, however because of worsening weather conditions they have now been asked to be prepared to leave again under mandatory evacuation by 2 p.m. today, according to the BOEM. Those areas had been closed as of 12:30 on Thursday.
As of 9 a.m. on Friday the following subdivisions are opened again: Pine Brook Hills, Boulder Heights, Carriage Hills, Old Stage Road, Lee Hill Drive, Sunshine Canyon and Fourmile Canyon drives to Poorman Road (including Poorman Road); Gold Hill Road to Switzerland Trail (Switerland Trail remains closed);
Sugarloaf Road with limited access to the north (Mountain Meadows will be open); and Lefthand Canyon Road with restricted access from the south, according to the BOEM.
Power remains off in those areas and residents are encouraged to stay on alert. They will be asked to bring identification and should be ready to re-evacuate if necessary, according to the BOEM.
There are 172 structures which have been confirmed as being destroyed, according to the BOEM. Residents can find a list of the confirmed destroyed homes at the BOEM website. Of those structures 169 are homes. The destroyed structures represent 80 percent of the burn area according to a Boulder County sheriff’s office report.
Boulder County is asking all residents who were evacuated to contact them, according to a news release. More information is available in the news release.
Missy Coyne, a 19-year-old junior speech language and hearing sciences major, said she planned to leave for Denver this evening but is now leaving earlier.
“I was supposed to go home to Denver for dinner anyway, but my mom called and told me I should leave earlier because she’s worried,” Coyne said. “So now she has me freaking out.”
Smoke can be seen stretching out towards Denver from a hill above Sunshine Canyon early in the day on Monday as a wildfire continues to burn in Fourmile Canyon just west of Boulder. (CU Independent/Lee Pruitt)
She said she lives at 18th and Canyon and has not been able to stop sneezing all morning, despite having her windows closed.
Teams are on site to catalog burned structures and to investigate the fire’s cause and origin starting Tuesday morning, according to the news release.
The emergency shelter at the Coors Event Center which was used Monday night is now closed. A new emergency shelter is open at the Boulder YMCA located at 2850 Mapleton Ave. Food, water and insurance resources will be available courtesy of the American Red Cross, according to the news release.
A community meeting will be held at 7:30 tonight at the Coors Event Center. The meeting is intended to inform residents about the initial response to the fire, ongoing firefighting activities, and to provide resources through the Red Cross such as victim advocates, insurance and emergency shelter information, according to the news release.
The CU Independent will update this story as more information becomes available.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Ellie Bean at Beanee@colorado.edu.
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