On December 30, 2021 a grass fire started from a firestorm that evolved in the span of one hour and caused destruction to many homes. Forecasters predicted high winds and a high-wind warning was issued for Boulder County on December 29th. There was a burn ban in Boulder County because of the high wind warning. Two accidental ignitions took place in the morning of December 30, 2021 and these ignitions sparked grass fires close to Highway 93 and Marshall Road. Since the winds had the strength of a hurricane that were 100 mph, the winds spread the fire and created a roaring wall of flames in less than an hour (NOAA, 2024). Since the county had been in six months of drought, the fire spread even quicker than normal. It is believed that the first fire started on a residential property in Eldorado Springs, and the second fire started in Marshall Mesa Trailhead near Highway 93. There is video evidence that the fires merged, and also burn patterns that were analyzed to help determine where the fire took place. The fire in Eldorado was intentionally started to burn old materials and since it was rainy and there were calm winds during the burn, firefighters were not concerned. Since the fire grew due to strong winds and spread so quickly, the fire department required that residents notify them the next time they create a controlled burn. The fire in Eldorado was originally burned out, but it started again due to the high wind gusts and the other fire was likely started by Xcel Energy Power lines. This was one of the most devastating wildfires in Colorado history, and it has taken years for people to rebuild their lives and homes. One of the reasons the fire was so extreme was because the landscape was already changing due to climate change.
The fire destroyed 1,084 homes and also 7 commercial properties. Many people knew to evacuate because of social media posts in the area. Because of this, 50,000 residents evacuated successfully. The county was covered in thick smoke and only two people died from the fire, which officials thought was very surprising given the extreme circumstances. The fire covered many subdivisions (Figure 1) and as people were trying to evacuate, it was hard to see some of the buildings such as hotels and restaurants because of how thick the smoke was. To help mitigate these dangerous fires in the future, meteorologists have made an early warning system called the Hourly Wildlife Potential Index, which helps make predictions of winds and temperatures to help indicate the risk of fires across the US (NOAA, 2024). A Navigating Disaster called Boulder County Program was also developed to help minimize the severity of wildfires in the future and to also help minimize the risk of wildfires occurring altogether. Since the Marshall Fire, recovery navigators have held 1,200 appointments to help survivors after the damaging wildfire (Boulder County, 2024). The fire created about $2 billion in damage, which was hard to recover from (Drugan, 2023).
Figure 1. Marshall Fire burn assessment map. The yellow icons show damage and the red shows destroyed structures.
Figure 2. Forecast generated at 5 pm on December 29 that shows wind speeds from the surface to jetstream.
Figure 3. Firefighters putting out Marshall Fire on December 30, 2021.
Marshall Fire investigation: most destructive fire in Colorado history composed of 2 fires
This video explains how each fire started and how the fires got more intense over time. The video shows damage that took place during the wildfire and the thick clouds of smoke that were described in many news articles that covered the wildfire.
References
Dougherty et al. Marshall Fire Investigative Summary and review. (2023, June 8). https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/marshall-fire-investigative-summary.pdf
Drugan, T. (2023, August 16). Humans started the devastating Marshall fire, 18-month investigation concludes. Drought, high heat and finds fueled its spread. The Boulder Reporting Lab. https://boulderreportinglab.org/2023/06/08/humans-started-the-devastating-marshall-fire-an-18-month-investigation-concludes-drought-high-heat-and-winds-fueled-its-spread/
Looking back at Colorado’s Marshall Fire. NOAA Research. (2024, January 8). https://research.noaa.gov/looking-back-at-colorados-marshall-fire
Marshall Fire and wind event recovery. Boulder County. (2024, November 7). https://bouldercounty.gov/disasters/wildfires/marshall/
Prentzel, O. (2023, June 12). Marshall fire was caused by reignited burn on residential property, Xcel Energy Power Line, Boulder County Authorities say . The Colorado Sun. https://coloradosun.com/2023/06/08/marshall-fire-investigation-results-colorado/
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