A view of the Sunshine Canyon fire, taken around 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Henry Larson/CU Independent)
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations in parts of mountain communities west of Boulder after officials responded to a structure fire near the 2900 block of Sunshine Canyon Drive. The wildland portion of this fire is named the Sunshine Canyon wildfire.
The first order was sent out just after 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, and encompasses some of the Pine Brook Hill and Seven Hills neighborhoods. The Mount Sanitas trailhead and open space just west of Wonderland Lake are also impacted by this order.
A second evacuation notice, sent out just after 3:30 p.m., showed more evacuations southeast of the original location, with evacuations ordered up to 4th Street and Mapleton Avenue. Pine Brook Hill and Wonderland Lake were removed from the map.
The city’s evacuation map shows there are no current evacuation orders for the City of Boulder, but several neighborhoods that sit up against the mountains were placed under an evacuation warning. At 4:50 p.m., the city issued an all-clear notification for parts of west Boulder between Linden Avenue and University Avenue.
“Due to limited fire spread and improving weather conditions, the evacuation warnings for areas within the city of Boulder have been lifted,” the city’s fire department said in a tweet.
No parts of the city are currently under an evacuation warning. The county still has several active evacuation orders out for areas west of Boulder and in the foothills.
The current active evacuation orders for the county, as of 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Courtesy of Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Everbridge)
According to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management(OEM), an evacuation warning is used to prepare residents to evacuate within the next one to four hours.
The city’s fire department said they were assisting county firefighters in combating the blaze.
According to the department of open space and mountain parks, park rangers are “evacuating visitors from trails on Mount Sanitas.” The department asked anyone hiking the mountain to leave the area immediately.
The county has also closed both Sunshine Canyon Drive and Linden Avenue at the base of the canyon.
The National Weather Service reported gusts of high wind, blowing at about 43 miles per hour as of 3:30 p.m.
The East Boulder Community Center, located at 5660 Sioux Drive, will open as the evacuation site for impacted residents at 5:30 p.m. The shelter will be open throughout the night to accommodate those in need.
Boulder OEM tweeted that the Boulder County Fairgrounds is open for large animal evacuation. The Boulder Humane Society will provide food, water, bowls and crates for domestic pets, which are accepted at the evacuation site.
The initial evacuation order does not impact the University of Colorado Boulder’s campuses.
A university advisory sent out at 3:48 p.m. said “there are no immediate threats to the CU Boulder campus.”
As of 7:25 p.m., Boulder OEM estimated the fire is at 25% containment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Contact CU Independent Editor-in-Chief Henry Larson at henry.larson@colorado.edu.
