Colorado fire: Up to 1,000 homes burned to ground as inferno declared most destructive ever

A video shows shoppers at a Colorado Costco evacuating into high winds and blinding ash as a wildfire raged nearby.

As the shoppers exit the store, the combination of ash and high winds reduce visibility to only a few feet ahead of them, with even the bright lights of ambulances and police vehicles almost completely obscured.

Reports and images out of Colorado show that homes caught in the blaze were burned so completely that only concrete basement walls and foundations remained.

The fire has reportedly destroyed up to 1,000 homes, though thankfully no deaths have been reported at this time.

After a wildfire destroyed portions of Colorado overnight Thursday and into Friday morning, residents were told to brace for heavy snows.

Snow began to fall on Friday evening, prompting some residents to comment on the wild swing in weather conditions in the state.

Up to 1,000 homes were destroyed in the blaze.

The White House has provided a readout of President Joe Biden’s call with Colorado Governor Jared Polis from earlier this afternoon.

The President spoke this morning with Governor Jared Polis to discuss the no-notice wildfires that have caused significant property damage and loss in Colorado. Governor Polis described the impacts and the need for additional Federal support, and the President assured him that every effort will be made to provide immediate help to people in the impacted communities. FEMA Administrator Criswell and her team are already working with their counterparts in Colorado to surge assistance. Fortunately, snowfall will help bring an end to the fires, and recovery efforts can get underway. The President is grateful to all of the first responders who have come to the aid of Colorado communities and families impacted by the fires.

In stunning footage captured by airline passengers, the Colorado wildfire can be seen burning neighborhoods down below.

The blaze razed up to 1,000 homes and forced 35,000 people to flee from their neighborhoods.

So far no fatalities have been reported.

The Colorado Sun spoke with Christina Eisert, a mother of two, who like many had a harrowing experience fleeing her home.

She quickly drove back home and lured her two shepherd-husky mixes out of the house “in the absolute nick of time,” Eisert told The Colorado Sun on Thursday night while choking up. “You couldn’t see. You couldn’t breathe.”

She heard a high-pitched squealing sound coming from her front windows, likely moments before they shattered from the heat. Eisert ran to the car without any belongings.

Hundreds of cars blocked the roads outside her home as a nearby Costco was being evacuated and neighbors fled the flames, she said.

“I felt like the fire was bearing down on us so I pulled the car off the road into the park,” Eisert said. The smoke became so thick she couldn’t see, so with her hand on the horn, she drove through the park to evade the stalled cars, she said.

“It was like fight or flight,” Eisert said. “I just felt every molecule in my body wanting to get my children out of this fire.”

Shelters in Colorado have reportedly begun handing out space heaters to help individuals keep warm as between 5 and 12 inches of snow are reported to fall on New Year’s Eve.

The snow storm comes less than a day after a wildfire destroyed up to 1,000 homes in the region, leaving thousands potentially homeless.

The Colorado wildfire was declared the most destructive in the state’s history, forcing approximately 35,000 people to flee their neighborhoods and destroying up to 1,000 homes.

Governor Jared Polis said it was a “New Year’s miracle” that as of Friday no one has been reported dead resulting from the blaze.

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn has more on the story below...

A Colorado family whose car battery had died found themselves stuck at their home without transportation when the Colorado wildfire neared their neighborhoods.

According to CBS42, prior to the fire Colorado resident Mary Stanley had ordered a bike pump off of Amazon to refill her bike’s tires so she could use it to travel until her car was fixed.

Just as the winds began to increase in speed and spread ash around her neighborhood, an Amazon delivery driver by the name of Luanne arrived to deliver the woman’s bike pump. Noticing her situation, Luanne offered to evacuate the Stanleys and their baby using her delivery van.

She drove the family to a community centre a safe distance away from the encroaching fires.

“We could be dead if it wasn’t for Luanne,” Ms Stanley told CBS42. “She was our saving grace. A little angel right at the moment that we needed her.”