Marshall fire caused by reignited burn on residential property, Xcel power line, Boulder County authorities say

BY OLIVIA PRENTZEL THE COLORADO SUN

Embers buried for six days on a residential property reignited and together with sparks from an “unmoored” Xcel Energy power line started the 2021 Marshall re in Boulder County, the sheri said.

A residential re Dec. 24 to burn scrap wood and tree branches resurfaced because of the winds Dec. 30, Boulder County Sheri Curtis Johnson said. e sheri said the re was put out “responsibly” Dec. 24 when it was buried. But around 11 a.m. Dec. 30 high winds, pushing 100 mph, resurfaced embers and started a shed on re at 5325 Eldorado Springs Rd.

A second re was started that day by Xcel power lines and also quickly spread, and at some point the two res combined, Johnson said on June 8.

e sheri , who lost his house in the re, said the underground coal res also cannot be ruled out.

e district attorney’s o ce determined there was “insu cient or no evidence of a crime” and no reason to le charges, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said.

“If we were to tell you today that we were ling charges it would be wrong and unethical,” Dougherty said. “We can only le charges if there’s evidence of a crime being committed.” ere were no known problems with the power line prior to the re, Dougherty said.

Dougherty said investigators found no evidence of negligence or recklessness by Xcel. Rather, high wind caused a power line to disconnect and contact other lines, leading to electrical arcing and hot particles showering onto dry grass.

“ is is a di erent discussion and a di erent decision, if that wire was worn or shoddy or they had maintenance issues in the past. ere was no such record of that, no indication of that.”

Xcel denied its power lines sparked the second of two res that combined to become the Marshall re, disputing that part of authorities’ ndings.

“We strongly disagree with any suggestion that Xcel Energy’s powerlines caused the second ignition, which according to the report started 80 to 110 feet away from

Xcel Energy’s powerlines in an area with underground coal re activity,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Xcel Energy did not have the opportunity to review and comment on the analyses relied on by the Sheri ’s O ce and believes those analyses are awed and their conclusions are incorrect.”

New details on the investigation come nearly 18 months after the re exploded in late December 2021 and raced across 6,000 acres, as gale-force winds pushed embers across parched grassland into subdivisions bordering open space. Two people died in the re and more than 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed in Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County.

In addressing the disastrous toll of the re, Curtis choked up and thanked the community for its patience as the investigation played out.

“I know personally the last 18 months have been hard and not having answers creates stress and challenges that we don’t need,” he said in a quavering voice. “And I hope that now we can focus on rebuilding our lives and getting back to our homes and our community.” e Boulder County Sheri ’s Ofce said the re likely started near Marshall Road and Colorado 93, but federal agencies aided in its investigation to try to pinpoint the cause of the re.

Evidence included hundreds of body camera recordings and photos that were captured by rst responders during the initial response of the re, along with 49 physical items and 137 pieces of digital evidence, such as drone footage and video recording by witnesses, the sheri ’s o ce said. e re also raised questions about Boulder’s emergency notication system, which is designed to send re warnings and evacuation alerts to people who signed up to receive them. Records obtained by e Colorado Sun showed that the rst phone alert was sent 42 minutes after the re started and only to 215 people. By then, at least one structure had burned and the re was well on its way toward consuming more than 1,000 homes and businesses. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Since the re, the sheri ’s o ce said it has improved the countywide noti cation system and now uses Amber Alert-style warnings that can be sent directly to the cellphones of people who may be in danger based on their GPS coordinates. e county acquired the technology prior to the Marshall re but had not nished setting it up.

Updates have also been made to the county’s other phone alert program, Everbridge, which sends alerts via landlines, cellphones, emails and text messages to those who register, the sheri ’s o ce said last month.

Boulder County strengthened its ordinances last year to provide speci c guidelines on how to fully extinguish res, Johnson said.