Near-hurricane-strength wind gusts overpowered Boulder County on Friday, sparking multiple wildfires, including one to the west of Longmont that prompted evacuations and destroyed about a dozen agricultural outbuildings.
The fire, which officials were calling the Rogers Fire, forced people from about 125 homes and was being blamed for power outages throughout Longmont. Firefighters started battling the blaze, which was spread out across 24 acres, shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday.
As of 7:15 p.m., all evacuations had been lifted and the fire was 100 percent contained, according to Boulder County dispatch.
Boulder County sheriff’s officials evacuated about 125 people and animals to the Boulder County Fairgrounds, keeping 29 people on pre-evacuation orders.
At Frog Belly Farm, 5255 Rogers Road, two barns and one outbuilding were destroyed by the flames, and officials by Friday evening had placed the total number of buildings destroyed at 13. There were no injuries reported.
Officials lifted evacuation orders in the afternoon, but at about 3 p.m., Boulder County sheriff’s Division Chief Robert Sullenberger said that some evacuations were reinstated after a hot spot flared up on the farm.
Sullenberger said when the wind blows and then shifts, firefighters are put in serious danger.
“It’s really a dance they’re having to do and because of that, they can’t aggressively attack the fire,” he said. “So what you end up doing is you basically carve out a sensible space, the fire lines, for lack of a better word, and hope it doesn’t jump back. Then, when the winds die down, they can aggressively attack the fire.”
Sullenberger said there were no injuries and no homes damaged despite encroaching flames upon one home in the area.
Longmont veterinarian Steven Benscheidt said he was treating six goats and two pigs brought to the fairgrounds from Frog Belly Farm.
“They had a bunch of hay that got on fire and the smoke … It was a disaster,” he said, adding tearfully that the animals’ mouths were burned.
He said he estimated at least 40 animals survived and about 30 died, though he didn’t have an exact number without confirming with the farm’s owners.
“You couldn’t believe, how could this burn up so quickly?” he said. “You just go out there and there’s nothing to burn if you look at the territory.”
‘Worst is over’
Winds gusted to more than 70 mph on Friday, and unusually warm temperatures — reaching as high as 71 degrees — dried grasses and other fuels ahead of a cold front expected to begin Saturday.
Winds knocked down power lines, affecting power and traffic signals as well as St. Vrain Valley School District’s bus routes in Longmont.
Traffic signals were restored by late morning, Longmont police Deputy Chief Jeff Satur said, and the power outages were contained to the Countryside Village of Longmont neighborhood, south of Quail Road and east of South Main Street.
“We anticipate having the power back on in that area of the city around 3 p.m. and anticipate having the poles fixed either Saturday or Sunday,” Satur said. “We’ve had people with power lines laying over their car and our fire department helped them get it out. Our public works forestry division are out cutting trees out of roads to get the roads clear … yes, we think the worst is over.”
Satur reiterated that if someone encounters a downed power line, they should stay away from it and call Longmont Power & Communications at 303-651-8386.
Satur said there were no injuries from the wind gusts or downed power lines in Longmont that he knew of, although a police officer did dodge a piece of metal that came loose from a building.
“At a building over by the Sugar Mill, a big section of sheet metal came off and one of the officers had to take evasive action to get out of the way of that,” Satur said.
Satur noted that Boulder County had in recent weeks seen more than one strong windstorm, and expressed surprise that Friday’s winds had such serious consequences
“We just seemed to go through a big, strong windstorm, and we didn’t have these kinds of situations happen,” Satur said. “And now a month later, I think from the gusts and from things like that, they must have been in the right spot and the right time.”
‘Impressive wind’
Some evacuees fled to the Boulder County Fairgrounds, where the Red Cross had set up a truck, animal owners filled barns with livestock and people parked their trailers.
Tom Herman evacuated from Chance Acres with the help of his daughter, Emily Pullen, and her best friend, Lauren Gourley, along with their husbands. He said he saw flames when he woke up, but still wondered what the sheriff’s office wanted with him when he received a reverse 911 call at about 5:30 a.m., alerting him to the danger.
“I’ve never been through this before,” he said. “My wife’s from California. She told me to grab all the valuables, the safes, guns and everything else that we could think of. Then these two showed up and we got all the pictures.”
Pullen arrived with her husband from Estes Park and Gourley arrived with her husband from Loveland to help Herman secure the house and fill a fifth-wheeler with belongings.
“It took both of us and all of our strength to close the shed door when we ran in to get the sprinkler,” Gourley said.
Pullen said her husband advised them to turn on a sprinkler to soak the grass in case the fire came closer to their house.
“We’ve had strong winds at that house forever, but it’s impressive wind,” she said.
She said it was hard to leave the house she grew up in, not knowing the fire’s outcome.
“I’m a very optimistic person and you know, I trust the fire departments and everybody else that are out there, but the winds are strong and it’s kind of an eerie feeling. We’ll be going back to the house hopefully, but you also don’t know,” Pullen said.
Animals evacuate
Horse whinnying echoed through the barns at the Boulder County Fairgrounds, where horse owners tended to their livestock after evacuating.
Helene Huggett, who with her husband, Colin, owns the Heart and Soul Ranch, 10069 N. 65th St., said it took eight horse trailers to evacuate 21 horses and one miniature donkey to the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
“The neighbors really rallied to help us, thanks to all the horse people,” Huggett said.
Kim Lampert, Somerset Farms owner for 17 years, said she was sent into a “two-and-a-half-hour scramble” when she received the first emergency text at 6:32 a.m. to gather up the 38 horses on her property at 5555 Nelson Road. She said people showed up with trailers to help.
“My three were the easiest to get on the trailer because they’ve done it before,” she said. “They were like, ‘Oh, this is an emergency.’ It’s hard to convince a horse to get on a trailer when it’s kind of timid, then you add the stress of smoke and wind and they’re like, ‘I’m not gettin’ in there.’ So there’s a lot of encouragement.”
Lampert said her farm is one house northwest of the farm that was on fire.
“That’s as close as I want it to be,” Lampert said. “It was blowing right at us. It nearly blew the door off my car. The last time we had this type of fire, I lost the door to my Jeep.”
Susan O’Kelley, a boarder at the farm, said she’s amazed by how people come together to offer help in an emergency. She said she went through an evacuation six or seven years ago.
“You always know: go to the fairgrounds,” O’Kelley said.
The site was expected to receive a delivery of GastroGard — described as Pepto-Bismol for horses — to calm their stress.
“Being calm about doing things, it translates to the horses,” Lampert said. If you’re going to be crazy, they’re going to be crazy.”
In another barn, Casey MacKenzie, owner of MacKenzie Shires, said law enforcement knocked on her door shortly before 6 a.m., prompting them to evacuate 16 horses, a llama and a goat.
“Once we got everyone out, I was happy,” MacKenzie said.
Amelia Arvesen: 303-684-5212, arvesena@times-call.com or twitter.com/ameliaarvesen
Karen Antonacci: 303-684-5226, antonaccik@times-call.com or twitter.com/ktonacci
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