Colorado wildfire: search for two missing as officials investigate blaze

Search teams looked for two missing people on Sunday in snow-covered but smoldering debris from a massive Colorado wildfire, while people who escaped sorted through what was left and investigators tried to determine its cause.

The flames ripped through at least 9.4 sq miles and left nearly 1,000 homes and other buildings destroyed in suburbs between Denver and Boulder.

It came unusually late in the year following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow. Experts say those conditions, along with high winds, helped the fire spread.

In hard-hit Louisville, Susan Hill walked her dog in well-below freezing chill, down a snowy street. She choked up as she remembered seeing the sky change color from the hill where she used to watch fireworks and then a sprint out of town with her college-age son and the dog, cat and the fire box with birth certificates and other documents.

The flames stopped about 100 yards from her property, she said, and she slept on Saturday night in her home, using a space heater and hot water bottles to stay warm.

While homes that burned to foundations were still smoldering, the blaze was no longer considered an immediate threat, especially with snow and frigid temperatures.

The Colorado governor, Jared Polis, and federal officials were touring damaged neighborhoods.

Authorities first said everyone was accounted for. But a Boulder county spokeswoman, Jennifer Churchill, said reports of three people missing were later discovered.

Other investigators were seeing if the missing people might have made it out but not contacted families or friends, Pelle said.

Of at least 991 buildings destroyed by the fire, most were homes. But the blaze also burned through eight businesses at a shopping center in Louisville, including a nail salon and a Subway restaurant. In Superior, 12 businesses were damaged, including a Target, Chuck E Cheese, Tesla dealership, a hotel and the town hall.

The two towns are about 20 miles north-west of Denver with a combined population of 34,000. Utility crews expected to get most electricity restored on Sunday, but warned gas might take longer.

People lined up to get space heaters, bottled water and blankets at Red Cross shelters. Xcel Energy urged residents to use fireplaces and wood stoves to stay warm and keep pipes from freezing.