Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and at least 33,000 people forced to evacuate their homes by fires in Colorado, a western US state battered by high winds and facing a historic drought, according to an official report Thursday. December 30.
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In Boulder County, hotels, shopping centers and more than 650 acres of greenery have gone up in smoke. “About 370 houses around Sagamore were destroyed. And it is possible that 210 houses were destroyed in the old town of Superior.”Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said at a press conference Thursday. The city of Boulder, which has more than 100,000 inhabitants, is located about fifty kilometers from Denver, the capital of Colorado. According to the newspaper Colorado Sun, several people had to be treated for burns, of which at least six were hospitalized.
In all, more than 33,000 people were ordered to evacuate, including Louisville, a city of 20,000 residents, and Superior, 13,000 residents. “Leave Louisville or your life will be in danger”, had insisted the meteorological services. According to a new report released Friday morning by the police in the town of Broomfield, “all evacuation and pre-evacuation orders have been lifted” for this border town of Superior.
UPDATE 6:30 AM: All of the mandatory evac and pre-evac orders for @broomfield have been lifted. THE MAP HAS BEEN UPDATED! You should have received a CodeRED alert overnight. https://t.co/YEztzRhS0E
– Broomfield Police (@BroomfieldPD) December 31, 2021
Colorado is experiencing a historic drought that greatly facilitated the spread of the flames. And gusts of wind over 160 km / h were observed in some places, complicating the efforts of the firefighters. Fortunately, the winds are expected to ease, the National Weather Service said late Thursday evening, and heavy snowfall is expected over the next two days.