Colorado fire destroys 1,000 structures

SUPERIOR, Colorado－Nearly 1,000 homes and other structures were destroyed, and hundreds more damaged, said a Colorado official, after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

Three people were also missing following the inferno that broke out on Thursday.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said on Saturday that investigators were still trying to find the cause of the wind-whipped blaze that erupted on Thursday and blackened entire neighborhoods in the area located between Denver and Boulder.

Pelle said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out. He said authorities had executed a search warrant at "one particular location".

Officials had previously estimated that at least 500 homes－and possibly 1,000－were destroyed in the fire, which by Friday was no longer a threat. Residents have slowly started returning to see the scale of the devastation.

Rescue efforts

Pelle said officials were organizing teams to search for the missing in the Superior area and the unincorporated Boulder County. The task was complicated as debris from destroyed structures was covered by 20 centimeters of snow dumped by a storm overnight.

The snow and temperatures in the single digits cast an eerie scene amid still-smoldering remains of homes. Despite the shocking change in weather, the smell of smoke still permeated empty streets blocked off by National Guard troops in Humvees.

The conditions compounded the misery of residents who started off the new year trying to salvage what remained of their homes.

Utility crews struggled to restore electricity and gas service to homes that survived, and dozens of people lined up to get donated space heaters, bottled water and blankets at Red Cross shelters.

The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow until the overnight snowfall. Scientists said climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Agencies Via Xinhua