Colorado: Boulder wildfire - Olde Stage Fire - 3,008 acres 100% contained

Olde Stage Fire - Final Update: A crew from the Boulder County Sheriff's office was monitoring the scorched hillsides north of Boulder for smoldering remnants of a fire that forced the evacuation of hundreds this week.

An eight-person crew was to be on hand Saturday and Sunday while a deputy patrolled the fire's perimeter. Stumps and other areas were still smoldering Friday, a day after firefighters were able to stop the flames that swept through the area Wednesday afternoon.

With the smoke cleared and officials better able to map the area, estimates now are that the fire burned 3,008 acres, more than double the amount first estimated. Officials also say the fire destroyed one home, not two. Deputies initially counted an abandoned turkey coop and support building as a home and outbuilding.

Wind driven fire
More than a two hundred firefighters spent the night battling a stubborn, wind-driven wildland fire that triggered the evacuations of more than 1300 homes as it scorched grasslands near Denver. Two homes were destroyed.

Boulder wildfire should be contained today

Evacuations: 70 percent of affected Boulder County residents have been allowed to return to their homes.
1,300 homes were evacuated and two were destroyed. The evacuation order for 70 percent of those homes was lifted this morning in an area east of U.S. Highway 36. The order remains in effect west of the highway.

FEMA boss "Brownie" Evacuated - Among the evacuated was horse trader and vilified ex-Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown.
Nicknamed "Brownie" Brown was lauded by President Bush for doing a "heckuva job" in the botched rescue and recovery during Hurricane Katrina which took the lives of 1,836 people and caused more than $81 billion in damage.
Brown resigned in disgrace.

Closures: North Foothills Highway (US Hwy 36) has been closed between Broadway (the north Boulder City limits) and Hygiene Road, two miles south of Lyons.Boulder Reservoir is closed.

IA: Olde Stage Fire IC - Wildland Fire - 45 th Street/Neva Road, west of Niwot : gusty winds are pushing the fire east.
Sizeup: 3,700-acre fire zone, about 1,400 acres have actually burned. The blaze is 30 percent contained, but authorities hope for full containment this afternoon.
Two homes totally destroyed and out-buildings have been lost.
Weather: The National Weather Service forecast winds of 20 mph in the area with gusts up to 40 mph through Thursday afternoon.
Injuries: Two firefighters and a police officer sustained minor injuries.
Cause: The fire, believed to have started when winds knocked down a power line, has burned 2.8 square miles in Boulder County, about 25 miles northwest of Denver.

Heroic effort: "The effort to suppress this wildfire once the winds died down last night was exhausting and downright heroic," "As long as the wind doesn't come up today, I'm very confident we've about got this thing licked." - Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle

Source: Colorado: Boulder County wildfire today - 1,400 acres 30% contained