Colorado wildfire erupts amid deepening drought, forcing evacuations in Boulder County - The Washington Post

A fast-moving, rapidly growing wildfire erupted Saturday and expanded to more than 7,000 acres in northwest Boulder County, Colo., prompting the evacuation of at least 2,000 homes and sending hikers and campers fleeing to safety.

The small community of Jamestown, about 15 miles northwest of Boulder, was completely evacuated Saturday, and the town of Lyons, home to more than 2,000, is under an evacuation warning on Sunday.

According to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management, “An Evacuation Warning is when a public safety official issues a warning that there is a high possibility of an evacuation due to a wildfire that poses a risk to life or property.”.

Normally in October, Colorado sees winter weather beginning in earnest, with mountain snows and changeable conditions, oscillating between springtime temperatures and winter, along the Rocky Mountain Foothills, including Boulder.

According to the Colorado Climate Center, which is part of the Colorado State University atmospheric science department, from 1992 to 2015, it was unheard of for large wildfires of more than 11,000 acres to ignite in the Rocky Mountain state so late in the year.

The Colorado blazes also come amid the worst wildfire season on record in California, where well over 4.1 million acres have gone up in flames, destroying more than 9,000 structures and killing 31.