Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the decade in which the shopping center was constructed.
Nederland’s Caribou Village Shopping Center is a total loss after a predawn blaze Thursday, and crews are expected to remain for several days at the scene of the fire that was still smouldering midafternoon.
As of about 2 p.m. Thursday, the fire was still in mop-up, with no definite end in sight. An evacuation order for areas around the shopping center and near Barker Meadow Reservoir had been lifted at 9:47 a.m.
Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson, speaking to news media Thursday afternoon, said that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and state fire authorities had stepped in to jointly investigate the cause of the fire. Johnson said this response is standard for a blaze of this magnitude and that the multi-agency response does not mean authorities think the fire was caused intentionally.
“We’re here to help,” Johnson said of the BCSO and responding officials. “This is a devastating loss for the community, and all of Boulder County is here to support.”
Investigators will look for surveillance footage and witness accounts, among other evidence. If local businesses have surveillance cameras, Johnson said, investigating officials would try to make use of the footage.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the remnants of the shopping center were still too hot for crews to get inside, Johnson said. Smoke continued to spread throughout Nederland, with some passersby having donned masks to avoid inhaling smoke.
A sheriff’s deputy first noticed the fire at the Caribou Village Shopping Center, 20 Lakeview Drive, at 3:41 a.m., while conducting traffic enforcement north of the building, sheriff’s office spokesperson Vinnie Montez said in a video posted by the agency. The deputy heard cracking and popping, Johnson said, which led him to the building, where he saw it in flames.
By 5:51 a.m., the fire had been “knocked down substantially,” but it continued to burn.
The flames were contained to the shopping center, Montez said. Fire investigators will determine the cause of the blaze through an investigation that will stretch at least into Friday, he added.
Johnson told reporters that nearby buildings do not appear to have sustained significant damage, and officials hope the B&F Mountain Market can reopen.
Nederland Town Manager Jonathan Cain began calling local business owners in the wee hours of the morning, trying to make sure they knew what was going on.
“Nederland is a small place, and we have some challenges if there is a fire,” Cain said. “We all look out for each other.”
All businesses in the mall are believed lost, officials said. There have been no reports of injuries to people, although Wild Bear Nature Center founder Jill Dreves said all of the animals at center died in the fire.
The fire fully engulfed both floors of the shopping center, a strip mall that included O’Neill Rocky Mountain Art, the Kaleidoscope Fine Arts Gallery, the Tres Gringos restaurant, the Oriental Healing Clinic and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Nederland substation.
The fire did not spread to the adjacent Carousel of Happiness or to the market, but they may have sustained some smoke damage, Montez said.
While crews continued to work the fire, Big Springs Drive remained closed to traffic, except through its intersections with Colorado 119 and with Peakview Road.
Cain said some roads will remain closed at least until the weekend, but he said he hopes to have them open on Monday.
Nederland Fire Protection District Chief Charlie Schmidtmann said that some parts of the shopping center area might be reopened so locals can use the grocery store. Sheriff Johnson said officials need to assess damage before opening the store to locals.
Schmidtmann, who had been up and at the fire scene on Thursday since crews took the call, said Thursday afternoon that it was too risky for fire crews to get inside and douse the pieces of the building still smoldering. Metal beams had melted, and the roofing had melted over the support beams.
“Itap too dangerous,” Schmidtmann said.
The ATF is taking over the investigation, he said, alongside Nederland fire officials. ATF has the expertise — plus cadaver dogs and the capability to identify possible causes.
As many as 50 people were involved in the response that got started before 4 a.m. Crews from Nederland, Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District, Timberline and Black Hawk assisted, alongside the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and paramedics.
Officials don’t know where in the building the fire started or how it spread throughout the entire shopping center, according to Schmidtmann. The blaze moved quickly through the building.
“It was unexpected,” he said.
The shopping center was built in the 1980s and didn’t have a sprinkler system. If it did, the fire might have been contained, Schmidtmann noted.
Schmidtmann said it was fortunate that overnight winds weren’t as strong as they can be in Nederland. Had they been stronger, the flames easily could have jumped to different buildings and spread through the town.
Crews are expected to continue their response for the rest of the weekend, said Schmidtmann, who had been on the scene for nine hours.
When asked when he might get to take a break, Schmidtmann replied, “Tuesday,” with a chuckle.
Jeff Muskett and Eugene D’Alesander, the owners of the nearby Wolf Tongue Square, counted themselves lucky but said they worry for the future of the town.
“To see everyone lose their jobs …,” said Muskett, a 46-year resident of Nederland, looking out from in front of his building toward the billowing smoke.
“It’s going to hurt the economy big time,” D’Alesander added.
Another resident, Mike Shaw, was surprised to see what happened. His dog, Lucy, woke him up past 3:30 a.m. Thursday by pawing at him. When he turned over, his “wall was red,” the 76-year resident of Nederland said. The flames grew so dramatically, he said, that they changed the color of his room.
Emergency officials issued the evacuation order for areas around the shopping center and near Barker Meadow Reservoir at 3:28 a.m. Thursday.
The evacuation area was bordered to the north and west by Colorado 119, the south by Peakview Road and the east by the end of the Barker Meadow Reservoir.
