Two people remain missing and one was found alive after fires destroyed nearly 1,000 homes Thursday in Colorado, authorities said on Sunday (January 2nd). Of the three initially missing, “One of these people was found alive and in good health”Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told reporters, adding that searches are still underway to locate the other two.
At least 991 homes were destroyed by the flames that ravaged entire neighborhoods of Superior and Louisville, two towns near Denver, the state’s main city, on Thursday, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee in an emergency. “Families only had a few minutes to put in everything they could – their animals, their children – in the car and leave ”Colorado Governor Jared Polis said.
Snowfall halted the spread of the fire on Friday, but also complicated the search for missing people. “It’s a very difficult search because of the debris, the heat, the snow”, said Pelle.
Striking damage
The fire, called “Marshall”, broke out in the arid climate of this western state of the United States, fueled by gusts of wind of more than 160 km / h Thursday. The damage is startling: in aerial images, entire streets are little more than piles of smoking ash. The fire, unlike previous fires, affected suburbs and not just rural areas.
In the fire zone, about 1,000 homes were still without power on Sunday, according to Alice Jackson of Xcel Energy, and more than 11,000 were without gas.
An investigation is underway to determine the causes of the fire, and a search warrant was announced on Saturday.
Colorado has been hit for several years by an exceptional drought, like much of the American West. In recent years, this part of the United States has experienced unprecedented fires, especially in California and Oregon.
With global warming, the intensity and frequency of drought and heatwave episodes are likely to increase further, continuing to create ideal conditions for forest or bush fires.
