NEW: Boulder Sheriff says there are 2,000 homes in the #MarshallFire burn area but not all were lost. 500+ homes lost in Superior. Dozens more near Marshall. Dozens lost near Louisville. Will thread new details here.
This is astonishing good news given the speed and scope of the fire. No known deaths.
https://twitter.com/vdeleontv/status/1476961377390448645
“In a blink of an eye, this was a disaster is fast motion,” said @GovofCO, who lives in Boulder County. “It’s unimaginable.” Gov Polis says he just spoke with President Biden who gave verbal approval to a disaster declaration.
Sheriff Pelle says the suspected cause of the Marshall Fire is downed power lines. Gov Polis says “as long as the weather holds, there’s not going to be additional significant damage.”
Gov Polis said approximately 1,000 homes have been lost. The Sheriff says it’s all an informed guess at this point until specific surveys can be met. Polis walks back the 1,000 total to include homes damaged but still standing.
“We didn’t actively fight the fire for the first few hours,” said fire manager Mike Smith. Smith said their only immediate goal, and all they could do in the face of a fire moving as fast as 100mph winds, was getting people to safety.
Firefighters in Louisville had water pressure issues from hydrants, per Sheriff Pelle. Something we’d heard from residents last night. Sheriff says that’s not unexpected in a major event as homes that are destroyed leak water.
Sheriff Pelle says it would be “a miracle” if no one died in the fire. Says it’s amazing they don’t have a list of 100 missing persons, but they have located everyone reported unaccounted for. After watching this fire yesterday, I can’t comprehend how that’s possible. Amazing.
Sheriff Pelle says it will be at least a day until home by home surveys are released to the public to confirm which specific homes were lost.
That concludes the briefing from the Sheriff and Gov. If you have unanswered questions, feel free to leave them here or DM me and I will try my best to get you an answer.
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