Wind-Fueled Wildfires Burn 3,000 Acres, Destroy 3 Homes, Force 891 Evacuations In Boulder County, CO

Boulder, CO (AHN) - Three separate wind-fueled wildfires in Boulder County, Colorado burned 3,000 acres, destroyed at least four structures, including three homes and forced residents to flee at least 891 homes.

Officials ordered mandatory evacuations of at least 891 homes in the path of the wildfires, 500 of those homes were on the north side of Boulder and another 391 were west of the Boulder Heights neighborhood. Residents were temporarily housed in Red Cross shelters and two of those remain open on Thursday.

The grassland fires were about 38 percent contained by Thursday morning.

Sections of several roads, including U.S. Highway 36, remain closed.

Officials think the fires were started by a power line that was downed by high winds on Wednesday. They say that they fear many power lines have sustained damage in the blazes and have probably fallen to the ground in several areas, creating hazardous conditions.

Federal funds to help fight the fire have been authorized, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials say.