Colorado Wildfires: 2 People Still Missing, 1 Found After Flames Scorch 6,000 Acres

Two people are missing and presumed dead following a rare urban wildfire that broke out on Thursday and spread across two towns in Boulder County, Colorado. Initially, three people were reported missing in the Marshall fire, but the third person was found alive and well.

Nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed as the fire burned across 6,000 acres. Wind gusts were in excess of 100 miles per hour, which led to flames pushing eastward in the towns of Louisville and Superior and resulted in thousands of evacuations.

As of Saturday, it is believed that the Marshall fire has been contained by more than 60%.

Due to the damage across the towns and nearly 1,000 homes, the wildfire is reportedly the most destructive in the history of the state.

Although the missing people have not been publicly identified, they reportedly live in homes that were overcome by the wildfire.

“The structures where these folks would be are completely destroyed and covered with about eight inches of snow,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Saturday.

When authorities initially discussed the missing individuals, they suggested they wouldn’t be found alive.

“I suspect we would have a loss of life based on the size of this fire, the speed, and ferocity. I think it’s miraculous it’s just three and not hundreds” said Pelle during the briefing. “We're very fortunate we don’t have a list of 100 missing.”

Pelle revealed one of the missing individuals was from Marshall County while the other two people were from Boulder County. It is unclear which area the recovered individual was from.

Starting Sunday, cadaver dogs have been used to search residences for the remaining missing individuals. The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation.