BOULDER — Flames driven by powerful, shifting winds destroyed two homes near Niwot Wednesday and prompted evacuation warnings for 11,250 Boulder County homes, then took an ominous turn toward Boulder.
Although winds lessened slightly late Wednesday, the fire remained uncontained and residents were told they couldn’t return home until morning at the earliest.
And shortly before 11 p.m., authorities said a third home had been lost to fire on Olde Stage Road and additional residences were being evacuated in the foothills.
Two wildfires that erupted Wednesday afternoon burned more than 1,000 acres of mostly grassland and brush west of U.S. 36 northeast of Boulder and 500 acres east of the highway, forcing thousands of residents to abandon their homes.
Two firefighters received minor injuries, there was one unconfirmed citizen injury, and seven horses and one dog were missing, said Boulder Sheriff’s Cmdr. Phil West.
About 9,600 acres were closed to residents.
Ranch owners loaded hundreds of horses and llamas onto trailers and fled in long caravans to safety.
“We can’t stop the fire, so we’re concentrating on protecting structures,” West said of a strategy dictated by fickle Chinook winds that peaked at 75 mph. Chinooks blow warm, dry air down the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains in winter and early spring.
As the fire approached the Dakota Ridge and Boulder Heights subdivisions in northwest Boulder in the evening, the fire’s intensity decreased as the winds died down. But West warned that the “dirty burn” fire left unburned pockets of land behind — including 200 homes — and could start burning if the winds shifted again.
About 200 firefighters, using 60 pieces of equipment, fought the fires. About 100 law enforcement officers and emergency workers also responded.
Firefighters planned to work in shifts through the night, West said.
The county formally requested state aid in fighting the fire, state Rep. Claire Levy said in a statement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved funding to help fight the fire Wednesday night.
At 12:58 p.m., a wind gust blew down a power line, sparking the first fire near the 4500 block of Neva Road west of Niwot. Named the Neva fire, it quickly burned two homes and a chicken coup and threatened scores of other structures, West said.
Residents were notified by reverse 911 and deputies knocked on doors, including at the North Rim subdivision north of Boulder.
“Grab your clothes, your most precious belongings and get out of here,” one deputy told a resident.
U.S. 36 was closed between Broadway and Hygiene Road, 2 miles south of Lyons. All roads west of the highway, including Lefthand Canyon Road, were closed. The Boulder Reservoir was closed.
The Neva fire was contained by 4 p.m., West said.
Meanwhile, downed power lines had sparked a second wildfire about 1:38 p.m. near the 7200 block of Olde Stage Road, West said.
The Olde Stage Road fire crossed U.S. 36 and threatened the Lake Valley Estates subdivision and its $1 million homes.
Then the winds, which had been blowing steadily east in the morning and afternoon, shifted and turned southwest at 5:30 p.m., heading toward Boulder.
People were evacuated to Niwot High School and Centennial Middle School, 2205 Norwood Drive in Boulder, West said.
About 200 evacuated residents gathered at Niwot High School. They ate pizza, drank bottled water, petted dogs and waited nervously.
“We just don’t know yet,” said Samantha Har, whose home, the last she heard, was safe. “I won’t breathe easy until it’s out.”
By about 6 p.m., evacuation lines had pushed to within half a mile of Boulder’s northern boundary, along Longhorn Road.
The fires prompted mass rescues of farm animals that mostly included llamas and horses.
Randy Eubanks and several other volunteers loaded nearly 100 horses onto trailers at the Green Tree Equine Facility, Eubanks said.
He was part of a stream of trucks and SUVs carrying trailers loaded with animals leading away from the fire.
Longmont Humane Society and the Boulder Valley Humane Society stayed open until 7 p.m. to accept pets from families being evacuated. Xcel Energy and Longmont Power and Communications cut off power in areas in the path of the fire to lessen fire hazards.
Jerry Slepicka, a board member of the Boulder County Fair, said farm animals from ranches threatened by the fire were sheltered in pens at the fairgrounds at 9595 Nelson Road in Longmont.
He said he lives west of Longmont, where visibility was limited to about one block because of thick, acrid smoke. He anxiously awaited an evacuation order in case the fire jumped U.S. 36.
“I’m rounding up the kids and packing up clothes,” Slepicka said.
Mike Rampson, 43, has lived in the North Rim subdivision since 1994 and evacuated his family and helped his neighbors.
“We got the important stuff,” he said, “the papers, the laptops and the dogs.”
He packed up his wife, their four children adopted from Russia and their three dogs. He also pitched in to evacuate his neighbor’s dog.
Hydrants in the neighborhood had hoses already connected, ready to be used.
West said evacuees would not be allowed to return to their homes Wednesday night even in areas where the fire is contained for fear winds could turn again and reignite fuel not yet burned.
“We don’t want to send anybody back in the area until we can guarantee their safety,” West said.
Chinook winds had gusted up to 80 mph in the foothills Wednesday, said Kyle Fredin, spokesman for theNational Weather Service in Boulder.
“Winds are gusting in the 55- to 75-mph range in the Niwot area,” Fredin said. He predicted the winds would die down between 8 p.m. and midnight.
Today, winds are expected to drop to between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph, he said.
“It’s going to be considerably less windy,” Fredin said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206
Staff writers Joey Bunch, Howard Pankratz and Tom McGhee contributed to this report.
