136 homes destroyed in huge Colorado wildfire

BOULDER, Colo. - A wildfire burning in the canyons and steep mountainsides near Boulder became one of the most destructive blazes in Colorado history yesterday as authorities determined it had destroyed nearly 150 homes in just three days.

Authorities provided the dire assessment as firefighters encountered a tangle of rattlesnakes, downed power lines and combustible propane tanks and struggled to get an upper hand on the inferno.

The Boulder County sheriff's office said 136 homes have been destroyed, a toll likely to rise as the blaze rages on.

About 3,500 people have been evacuated from about 1,000 homes stemming from a fire that broke out in a parched area west of Boulder on Monday. Four people remain missing as some residents stayed behind, risking their lives to try to save their homes.

No deaths or injuries have been reported at this point, and the cause of the fire was not known.

The fire is not large - only about 6,200 acres, or about 10 square miles. But it struck in a populated area that inflicted major property damage.

The reported loss of homes surpasses that of the 2002 Hayman fire in Southern Colorado that was the most destructive in the state's history. That fire destroyed 133 homes and 466 outbuildings over 138,000 acres in a more sparsely populated area including national forest land.

Firefighters took advantage of cooler temperatures and light rain to attack the wildfire yesterday but authorities acknowledged they still don't have a good handle on the blaze.

"We just don't have control of the fire," Sheriff's Cmdr. Rick Brough said in the afternoon as some rain began falling over the fire area.

Air tankers dumped 35,000 gallons of fire retardant and crews began building containment lines on the eastern side of the fire. The large plume of smoke from the fire had dissipated because of the favorable weather.

The fire was still actively burning, however, and threatening structures.