Information Center

Fire pit may have sparked Colo. wildfire. BOULDER, Colo. – Hundreds of people evacuated during one of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history returned to their scorched homes Sunday, surrounded by the dreary sight of burnt trees, melted mailboxes and uneven patches of blackened ground.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Boulder foothills as residents about 35 miles away fled their houses and anxiously watched television images of another fast-moving wildfire that has already destroyed at least one Loveland-area home and grown to about a square mile in size. No injuries have been reported in that fire.

In Boulder, firefighters inched closer to fully containing the blaze that has burned 10 square miles and authorities investigated what caused it.

A senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told the Denver Post that authorities are looking into whether a fire pit sparked the wildfire, which could mean criminal charges are possible. The newspaper did not name the official.

Authorities previously said the fire may have started after a vehicle crashed into a propane tank. The sheriff's office is aware of the Post article but won't comment on the cause or origin of the fire because it's under investigation, said Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for the fire response.

Like other residents, Nancy and Jim Edwards picked up a permit Sunday morning to re-enter their neighborhood, but they found out that the roads leading up to where they live is still closed. Jim Edwards said they might drive as far as they're allowed.

"We might take a ride, but it is really heartbreaking to see the stuff," he said.

Edwards said he spotted their house through a telescope from Flagstaff Mountain outside Boulder and saw that it was destroyed.

"It looked like a nuclear disaster," Nancy Edwards said. She said they plan to rebuild.

At one destroyed property, all that remained was a stone chimney surrounded by walls of brick about waist high. Saplings in the front yard were burnt and barely their trunks remained. A barbecue grill lay upside down, along with seven metal mailboxes nearby. The house's separate garage had been reduced to a heap of ashes .Fire pit may have sparked Colo. wildfire