Marshall Fire Likely The Most Destructive In Colorado's History

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — The Marshall Fire burned around 6,000 acres by Friday morning, and destroyed more than 500 homes in Colorado, making it likely the most destructive wildfire in the state's history.

In a news conference Friday morning, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said it was "miraculous" that no deaths had been reported.

Thousands of residents in Superior, Louisville, Broomfield and other cities and areas were evacuated.

Two people were reported missing, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Friday night. No details about their identities or locations were released.

The fire was one of several that started in the region as winds gusted up to 110 mph and spread the fires rapidly, weather officials said.

President Joe Biden issued a federal emergency declaration and Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in response to the fires.

As of Friday morning, the Marshall Fire was not likely to spread farther, fire officials said. Most evacuees likely won't find out whether they lost their homes for at least another day until the damage assessment is complete, authorities said. Snowfall is expected to help firefighting efforts.

Up to 1,000 homes could be damaged, Polis said during the news conference.

The west side of Superior and Old Town Superior are "totally gone," Pelle said.

"That accounts for easily 500 homes," the sheriff said.

West of Superior, near Marshall and the Eldorado Springs area, dozens of homes were burned out, he said.

"The south side of Louisville suffered some pretty catastrophic losses as well —dozens of homes," Pelle said.

"In many of those neighborhoods that are blocked off, it's still too dangerous to return," he said. "We saw in many places still active fire this morning, and we saw downed power lines ... a lot of risk that we're still trying to mitigate. As soon as residents are able to get back, we're going to let them back — that's our goal."

A boil water advisory has been issued for Superior and Louisville, Pelle said. Water pressure was lost in those communities, and it's potentially contaminated, he said.

Six burn victims were being treated at UCHealth Broomfield, officials confirmed on Thursday. A first responder was also hospitalized. Their condition was not known.

Most of Colorado has faced severe or extreme drought since early fall, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported. The dry conditions are helping wildfires spread rapidly.

"One of the many factors that led to the devastating wildfire today is the recent record dryness," the National Weather Service said in a tweet posted late Thursday night. "For all periods from Jul 1st to Dec 29th (essentially the second half of the year), Denver has been the driest on record by over an inch. Snowfall is at record low levels, too."

The conditions meant that firefighters couldn't fight the blaze "head on," Pelle said.

“We actually had deputy sheriffs and firefighters in areas that had to pull out because they just got overrun."

Mike Guanella and his family were relaxing at their home in the town of Superior and looking forward to celebrating a belated Christmas later in when reports of a nearby grass fire quickly gave way to an order to leave immediately.

Instead of opening presents, Guanella and his wife, their three children and three dogs were staying a friend’s house in Denver, hoping their house was still standing.

“Those presents are still under the tree right now — we hope,” he said.

Early Friday, towering flames that had lit up the night sky were gone, leaving smoldering homes and charred trees and fields. Winds died down, and light snow soon began falling, raising hopes it could snuff out hot spots.

Sophia Verucchi and her partner, Tony Victor, returned to their Broomfield apartment, on the edge of Superior, to find it was spared serious damage. They fled the previous afternoon with just Victor’s guitar, bedding and their cat, Senor Gato Blanco.

“We left thinking it was a joke. We just felt like we were going to come back. At 5 o’clock, we thought, maybe we’re not coming back,” Verucchi said. But they got an email in the morning saying it was OK to return.

“Seeing the news and seeing all the houses burnt, we just feel very lucky,” Verucchi said.

Donations can be made to those impacted:

• Boulder Office of Emergency Management- If you have shelter to offer displaced residents, you can sign up to be a vetted host at Airbnb.com and you will be alerted through the Airbnb Open Homes Program if needed — sign up here.
• Community Foundation, Boulder County - accepting monetary donations
• YMCA of Northern Colorado, accepting donations (blankets, pillows, dog & cat food) at their location: 2800 Dagny Way, Lafayette. Follow their updates here for what supplies are needed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.