Updated at 6:57 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2024
A fourth wildfire that ignited around 2 p.m. Wednesday in southwest of Boulder burned down two structures – including one home on Lakeshore Park Road. Officials say it was human-caused.
“This does not appear to be intentionally started, but it is a human-caused fire,” Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said.
Johnson said officials are speaking to two individuals as part of their investigation.
The fire prompted evacuations near the Lake Shore neighborhood on the northeast side of Gross Reservoir. According to the Boulder Office of Disaster Management Facebook page, some evacuation orders have been lifted. But, evacuation orders remain in place for the area northeast of Gross Reservoir.
Air tankers and helicopters provided water drops to contain the blaze, which was one of many wildfires on the Front Range Wednesday.
The percentage of containment is unknown at this time.
“I think we have a pretty good line painted around it with retardant,” Johnson said. “But I'm not confident saying it's contained until we know for sure that we have the active flame taken care of and we're really not concerned there's going to be any more spread.”
“One thing that we want to make sure that people out there understand is the fire danger right now is very, very high,” Mountain View Fire Rescue PIO Rick Tillery said. “Any kind of a spark can create a fire that can spread pretty quickly when the relative humidity is quite low.”
Officials said people should avoid Flagstaff Road, which is being used to evacuate residents. Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks have closed recreation trails around the Chautauqua area up to Flagstaff.
There are currently two evacuation centers for the Lake Shore fire:
- 1333 Iris Ave., Boulder, CO, 80304
- Nederland Community Center: 750 CO-72, Nederland, CO, 80466
Fire crews have been responding to a surge of wildfires across the northern Front Range, including fires burning near Loveland, Lyons and Jefferson County.
Wildfires in Colorado
- Alexander Mountain fire: State and feds marshal resources to fight large wildfire burning near Loveland
- Stone Canyon fire: Firefighters work overnight to contain fire burning near Lyons
- Quarry fire: Wildfire burning in south Jefferson County triggers evacuations near Deer Creek Canyon
- How to make an evacuation plan for fires, floods and other Colorado disasters
This is a developing story and will be updated.
