Thousands of people in the Denver area have been forced to evacuate their homes, hundreds of buildings have burned and several roads remain closed after wind gusts whipped up grassfires into out-of-control blazes on Thursday.
It's not clear how the fires started, but the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that at least a few began after power lines were blown down by strong winds. Wind gusts of more than 100 mph later in the day caused the fires to spread rapidly and made it difficult for fire officials to contain them.
According to The Associated Press, six people, including one first responder, were injured in the wildfires near Boulder and Denver suburbs located on the city's northwest side.
According to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, about 580 homes were burned in the fire on Thursday, including 370 in the town of Superior and 210 in nearby Old Town.
As many as 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes on Thursday. Just before midnight, Scripps station KMGH in Denver reported that all evacuation orders in the town of Broomfield were lifted, allowing residents to return to their homes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has authorized federal funds for use to help firefighting costs for the Marshall Fire, approving a request made by Colorado's Fire Management Assistance Grant. The authorization allows for FEMA funding to cover 75% of the state's firefighting costs.
Officials in Colorado will provide an update on the wildfires at 10 a.m. MT on Friday.
