Comment: Not only that, they were put out by a heavy snowstorm...


wildfire colorado christmas
© AFP 2021 / Marc Piscotty/Getty Images
Fierce winds, with gusts topping 100 mph, along the foothills in the north metro area are driving multiple wildfires and some Boulder County residents are evacuating their homes because of the fire threat.

At about 1 p.m., the Boulder Office of Emergency Management ordered an evacuation notice for the town of Superior — population of about 12,000 people. Less than an hour later, fire command ordered an evacuation of Louisville — about 20,000 people.

"Boulder County Office of Emergency Management has just announced an Evacuation Order for ALL of Superior, Colorado residents," the town said on Twitter. "Evacuation point is the South Boulder Recreation Center. The Superior Community Center is not an official evacuation location."

"If you are in Louisville, this is a life threatening situation. LEAVE NOW!" fire officials said on Twitter.


At about 2 p.m., the Flatiron Crossing, a retail mall in Broomfield, closed as a safety precaution and to ease traffic in the area. Fire is not threatening the mall at the time.


Some roads, including Colorado 93, have been shut down by the winds and trucks have been toppled. Boulder and Broomfield are on accident alert.

A wind gust of 105 mph was recorded at Rocky Flats, according to the National Weather Service.


Authorities urged people to stay home and off of area roads if possible as a safety precaution. Broomfield went on accident alert because of the damaging winds and the "rapidly changing situation."


Two of the fires have been named — Middle Fork fire and the Marshall fire — and authorities believe downed power lines may have started the grass fires.

The Boulder OEM has set up evacuation shelters at the South Boulder Recreation Center, 1360 Gillaspie Drive, the Longmont Senior Center, 910 Longs Peak Avenue, and the YMCA of Northern Colorado, 2800 Dagny Way, Lafayette.

Road closures at one point included U.S. Highway 36 between Boulder and Lyons, but the highway was reopened, in part, to evacuate Superior. A stretch of U.S. 36, however, was closed in both directions from Interlocken Loop to Baseline Road because of fire.

Grass fires in Boulder included one in the 5500 block of Broadway sometime after 10 a.m. and another in the 1100 block of Cascade Drive. Firefighters responded and contained both those fires.