LEFTHAND CANYON — One of the largest and most destructive fires in Boulder County history has burned at least 92 structures, from mansions to outhouses, officials’ preliminary survey of the area northwest of Boulder found Tuesday.
Officials posted a list of addresses on the Boulder County website Tuesday night, which 3,500 evacuees have eagerly awaited.
Officials did not know how many of the lost structures were homes. They said another eight structures were damaged.
Boulder County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Rick Brough said it would be at least a couple more days before the evacuees could return home. The fire continues to burn, he said, and downed wires and burned trees that could still fall are hidden dangers.
A meeting for evacuees is planned tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center on the University of Colorado campus.
The fire doubled in size Tuesday to more than 7,100 acres, after it started Monday morning about 10 a.m. in the 7100 block of Fourmile Canyon Drive.
No portion is considered contained. No one has been injured.
Officials are investigating the possibility someone backed into a propane tank and started the fire, but the story has not been confirmed, Brough said Tuesday night.
“Pray for rain,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Tuesday afternoon
A “red flag” critical fire danger warning that had been in place for parts of the Front Range since Sunday afternoon expired at 6 p.m. Tuesday. A Wildfire Smoke Health Advisory for the metro area has been extended until 4 p.m. today.
Winds that fanned the flames with gusts up to 45 mph Monday and up to about 30 mph Tuesday are expected to diminish to 6 to 9 mph today, with a high of 77 degrees and, more helpfully, a 20 percent chance of showers, according to the National Weather Service.
After a survey of the burned area Tuesday afternoon, incident commander Don Whittemore said the fire had burned the homes of at least nine firefighters.
“It is a testament to their commitment and bravery,” he said. “While they were out saving someone else’s home, theirs is burning down.”
Command of the fire was turned over to federal agencies at 6 p.m. Tuesday, which will bring additional crews, expertise and money, said Laura McConnell, the local incident command spokeswoman.
Progress was made Tuesday by seven air tankers and more than 300 firefighters on the ground. McConnell expected the number to grow to more than 600 today, with 60 to 70 specialists from seven to 10 states.
Gov. Bill Ritter pledged $5 million from the state to help with firefighting costs, and federal emergency managers have also promised a federal firefighting grant.
Pelle said it was believed that the fire was sparked when a car ran into a propane tank around 10 a.m. Monday, then the flames took off in the wind gusts.
As slurry bombers droned and embers drifted in the air over the Boulder Heights and Pinebrook Hills neighborhoods, residents of the burned area were kept out for their own safety Tuesday.
“Most of the grass is out; what we’ve got now is pockets of smoldering fire that wind will fan into the timber,” said Sugarloaf Fire Department fire lookout John Winchester from a location atop Sugarloaf Mountain, looking down on a half-dozen hot spots. “We are having to deal with it by hand, which is really hard in the timber.”
Firefighters characterized it as “dirty” fire, meaning it left behind pockets of fuel.
Trees infested and killed by pine beetles, which have blighted some mountainsides, have not been a factor in this blaze, fire crews said.
Buildings in the historic mining camp town of Gold Hill were spared by a fire line.
“They knew where to build the backfires. They saved their town,” said Boulder County sheriff’s Deputy Dan Walter.
Mike Walker, 60, who runs the Colorado Mountain Ranch at Gold Hill, a summer camp for kids, refused to leave, even as the fires swept in, his daughter, Rose Walker, said Tuesday. The ranch has been in their family since 1947, she said.
“He said it came fast,” she said of the fire.
Mike Walker tried to push back against the flames with a tractor and the help of firefighters. Only a few acres of the 198-acre spread burned, but the fire consumed the family home, numerous sheds, outhouses and other buildings, as well as two buses and other vehicles.
Rose Walker was away, evacuating 36 horses to the Boulder County Fairgrounds when the fire roared down the center of the camp, she said.
Tuesday, Will Hunt, 64, lined up his red truck for a quick getaway from his Lefthand Canyon home at the base at Glendale Gulch.
“I’m not gonna play it dangerous. If I see it coming out of Glendale Gulch, I’m gonna leave,” he said.
At a 9 a.m. news conference at the Boulder County Justice Center on Tuesday, evacuees gathered around with reporters, trying to find out the fate of their homes.
Evacuee Vadim Koperwas said, “I appreciate they’re not giving us false answers, but I’m stressed and anxious.”
On the west side of the fire, several structures north of Sugarloaf Road appeared lost, but the efforts of volunteer firefighters and at least one holdout homeowner saved other structures.
“I got lucky,” said Bob Arnold, 64, who evacuated his wife and dogs and then returned to defend his home here through the night.
The fire reached within 50 yards of the log home where he has lived since 1988, surviving the 1989 Black Tiger fire. “I stayed here because of my experience last time. … I figured it was worth a try. … I figured I would stay up and defend the place.”
He worked for more than six hours Monday, shoveling dirt onto burning, dry grass. He shut the windows of his home and slept fitfully after the wind let up around 8 p.m. Early Tuesday, he hiked up to the fire again.
“You can see it is still smoking,” he said. “If the wind gets going I think the little fires here could get going again.”
Staff writer Yesenia Robles contributed to this report.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
