Residents in the Lefthand Canyon area of Boulder County are on standy to evacuate tonight, if necessary, because of a late-afternoon fire that quickly consumed more than 75 acres.
The Maxwell fire is still uncontained, though crews set a back blaze and an air tanker dropped several loads of retardant this evening.
An American Red Cross shelter was set up at the Boulder YMCA after the fire broke out at about 5 p.m. The shelter was shut down at about 9:15 p.m. for “lack of need,” according to the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management.
The office sent messages to 340 phone numbers advising residents to be be ready to flee if the fire flares overnight.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the blaze burning in the Roosevelt National Forest was first reported at about 5 p.m. in the 4000 block Lefthand Canyon Drive, about 9 miles northwest of downtown Boulder.
The fire was mostly on steep slopes north of Lefthand Canyon where there is standing timber, as well as “dead and down materials,” the Forest Service stated.
Heavy wind this afternoon drove the fire quickly, but winds calmed after dark, and the area has a 20 percent chance of rain Monday with highs in the 70s.
Monday, dozens of firefighters will tackle the fire on the ground, 16 engines with four air tankers and a helicopter, according to the Forest Service.
The fire was initially reported at 1 to 2 acres, but grew to more than 10 acres at 6 p.m. By 8 p.m., the Forest Service estimated the blaze had charred 100 acres, but by 9 p.m., the estimate had been revised back to 75 acres.
“There is potential for structures to become threatened, though none are directly threatened at this time,” the Forest Service said in an alert to media at 6 p.m.
