Man Who Evacuated For The Marshall Fire Filmed Close Call With NCAR Fire
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - The now 189-acre NCAR Fire started around 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon near the flatirons in Boulder. Fire officials say crews got to work quickly and firefighters are getting better control of it. As of Sunday afternoon, the fire is 35% contained.
Before the fire started Saturday, Ben Holden went with his dog and a group of friends on a hike west of Boulder above NCAR. When they started heading back down from their summit, he saw a familiar sight.
"Basically, we see this smoke developing over a ridge," he said.
Holden moved to Superior two days before the Marshall Fire. He had to evacuate for that, so he knew right away what was coming over that ridge wasn't good.
"I was like this looks like a wildfire brewing so we should get off this mountain," he said.
He stopped long enough to grab video of he and his fellow outdoorsmen fleeing what would become the NCAR Fire. He says he only had one thought, getting to safety.
"Your only thought can be, 'holy crap this is like way bigger than you thought it would be,'" he said.
Two hundred firefighters from roughly 30 different agencies spent Saturday evacuating 1,629 people and fighting the fire. Dry, windy conditions made things difficult, but there were some things on their side.
"Good planning, good prep and a lot of good mitigation work were the reasons that we had good success today," said Mike Smith, the Incident Commander for the fire.
As of Sunday morning, no structures had burned and no injuries were reported.
Holden has now escaped two wildfires since moving to Colorado two months ago. Despite that he says he's here to stay. At least until he finishes school.
"I still like Colorado. I don't regret coming here," he said.