Three people are missing and feared dead after a fire engulfed two communities in Colorado’s Boulder County, causing thousands to be evacuated and about 1,000 homes destroyed, local officials said Saturday.
Local officials initially said there were no reports of casualties or missing people after the fire broke out Thursday morning in the northern suburbs of Denver.
Gusts of more than 160 km / h pushed the flames eastward toward the communities of Superior and Louisville, prompting an order to evacuate them.
Within about two hours, the fire reduced more than 24,000 acres to ashes, according to local officials.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelly said the fate of three people he did not name was unknown. All of them lived in houses that were completely destroyed by the fire. “The houses where these people lived have been completely destroyed and are covered in snow,” Peli told a news conference on Saturday, adding that specially trained dogs would be used in the search Sunday.
Sheriff Pelly said 991 homes in Superior and Louisville, as well as other county settlements, had been destroyed, making the fire the most devastating in the state in terms of home loss.
US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in the region, freeing up federal funds to help those affected.
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