Monday’s screaming winds and dry conditions have many Marshall fire victims terrified that their number is up … again.
Three years ago, Dec. 30 was much like this year. That day, wind gusts of 100 miles per hour whipped through unincorporated Boulder County, Louisville and Superior and ignited a wildfire that left more than 1,000 families homeless and businesses burned.
Two people died in the Marshall fire of 2021.
After 17 months of intense investigation, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office announced the Marshall fire was actually two separate fires started by two separate causes within 2,000 feet and an hour apart.
The first was human-caused by a fire at property owned by Twelve Tribes that was left to smolder six days earlier. Investigators said the fire had been covered in dirt, but on Dec. 30, 2021, the high-wind event uncovered and reignited the smoldering fire at about 11 a.m.
The second was an unmoored Xcel Energy power line near the Marshall Mesa Trailhead that sparked at around noon.