Cold Springs Fire prompts almost 2000 evacuations

A total of approximately 1,991 people have been evacuated as a result of the Cold Springs Fire which started north of Nederland on Saturday July 9th. Approximately 1,253 people were evacuated from areas north and west of Boulder Canyon and east of Peak to Peak Highway on Saturday and an additional 738 were told to evacuate Sunday from the Magnolia area.

Overnight shelters have been established at Nederland High School and East Boulder Recreation Center.

On Sunday night, 5 adults and one small dog stayed overnight at the East Boulder Recreation Center. Roger Hoffer, Red Cross volunteer and shelter manager at East Boulder Rec. told KGNU’s Roz Brown that in addition to providing a place to stay and food, they are giving emotional support to those who have been displaced. “Obviously it’s a very stressful situation for people that have been evacuated and worried about whether their house is still standing or not.”

Hoffer says that considering almost 2,000 people have been evacuated, there is a relatively small amount of people seeking shelter at East Boulder Rec. (5 people) and Nederland High School (10 people). He attributes this to the strong sense of community that has seen people taking in friends, family and neighbors. “It’s a wonderful thing to see the way in which so many people have been evacuated and yet friends and relatives have provided a place for most everyone to have a place to go.”

Cold Springs Fire prompts almost 2000 evacuations KGNU News

Dion Wolfenbarger and Doug Hintzman arrived at East Boulder Recreation Center on Sunday night having been evacuated in the second wave from the Magnolia area.

red cross truck — The Red Cross have established an evacuation center at East Boulder Recreation Center.

Wolfenbarger said that this is the first time that they’ve had to actually evacuate their homes in the 16 years that they lived in the area.

They brought their pet birds and two dogs and computers “luckily we had made one load down this morning with some photographs and things and we’ve got a few clothes. I think we’ve got what we need to get by.”

Hintzman and Wolfenbarger say they weren’t planning on staying at the Recreation Center but rather going to their son’s home in Louisville. They wanted to check in with firefighters to let them know they had evacuated safely. “We really appreciate the firefighters because it’s bad weather and bad terrain up there. We really appreciate what they’re doing.”