US: Colorado wildfires force tens of thousands to flee

Tens of thousands of people in two towns in Colorado on Thursday have been evacuated as wildfires tore through the area, officials said.

In a briefing, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said there were "two significant fires, fueled by dry conditions and very high winds."

Hundreds of homes and businesses 'lost'

Pelle said that thousands of people from the towns of Louisville and Superior had to be evacuated from their homes.

"We know that there are structures, both homes and businesses that have been burned and lost. I'm speaking about hundreds of structures," Pelle said.

Its feared over 500 homes have been destroyed. "We know that approximately 370 homes in the Sagamore subdivision... have been lost. There's a potential of 210 homes lost in Old Town Superior," the county sheriff said.

The Two fires are understood to have begun on Thursday morning.

Firefighters were able to tackle and then monitor one of the blazes. However, the second fire spread rapidly and tore through 1,600 acres (647 hectares).

It moved through parts of the two towns, forcing the evacuations of residents, various care facilities and a hospital.

Too early to know about fatalities

Sheriff Pelle said it was still too early to tell if there had been any fire-related casualties. At the time of the briefing, none had been reported.

Pelle cautioned: "I'd like to emphasize that due to the magnitude of this fire, the intensity of this fire and its presence in such a heavily populated area, we would not be surprised if there are injuries and fatalities."

State of emergency declared

Governor Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency. Friday morning local time, Polis said he spoke with President Joe Biden. According to Polis, the US president said a major disaster would be declared to help
people quickly get financial help.

Polis said the fire was different to previous blazes in the state because it wasn't burning out in the countryside, but right where people live. 

"This area is right in and around suburban sub-developments, stores," he said.

Polis expressed his support for those affected, saying on Twitter: "Prayers for thousands of families evacuating from the fires in Superior and Boulder County. Fast winds are spreading flames quickly and all aircraft are grounded."

Extreme conditions spur fire on

Gusts of over 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour have been fanning flames in some parts, while impeding firefighting efforts.

The weather service did however say that the stronger winds were over for now, and that the windy conditions were expected to calm down going into Friday.

The region has also been experiencing very dry conditions, and the US Drought Monitor has listed Boulder County's drought as "extreme." 

Daniel Swain, a meteorologist at the University of California, expressed his astonishment that a fire like this was taking place in December, which is considered to be a quiet time for fires.

"Genuinely hard to believe this is happening in late December in Boulder, CO. But take a record warm & dry fall, only 1 inch of snow so far this season, and add an extreme (100mph+) downslope windstorm...and extremely fast moving/dangerous fires are the result," Swain wrote on Twitter.

kb/dj (AFP, AP, Reuters)