Boulder Sunshine Fire: Maps & Evacuations

An arial view of the fire. (Boulder OEM)

Emergency responders are working non-stop to contain a fire in Sunshine Canyon that could be nearing Boulder, Colorado. So far, according to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management (OEM), the fire is covering 62 acres and is 20 percent contained. This is a big improvement over the zero containment that was being reported a few hours earlier. Eight aircraft are taking an active part in the containment and there are no reports of loss of property or injuries at this time. However, 1,000 homes were evacuated and some 4,000-plus are still on a pre-evacuation standby, as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Here’s what we know so far about maps and evacuation for the fire, at the time of publication. The OEM website periodically goes down due to high traffic. If you visit the website and find it’s down, check their Twitter or Facebook for updates.

Real-time information on road closures and evacuation information is available at the Boulder OEM’s map application here. The current map as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern is:

(Boulder OEM map)

The area shaded yellow indicates the evacuation area, and the red lines with dots are closed roads. The area shaded red is the incident area. The area shaded purple above indicates the pre-evacuation area. Here’s a closer look at the border between the evacuation and pre-evacuation area:

(Boulder OEM)

The pre-evacuation area appears to stop at 6th street in part, and extend to Broadway further north.According to OEM, closed roads include all City of Boulder OSMP trails in Red Rocks, Sanitas, Sunshine Canyon, and Wonderland Lake areas, along with Betasso Preserve and Bald Mountain Open Spaces. Boulder Canyon at 9th street westbound is also closed.

Earlier, OEM shared the following fire perimeter picture:

According to The Denver Post, the general evacuation perimeter is Sunshine Canyon Drive to the north, Boulder Canyon Drive to the south, Fourth Street in Boulder to the east, and Poorman Road to the west. Pre-evacuation areas include Fourth Street east to Broadway, along with Mapleton Avenue to Canyon Boulevard.

If you have any questions about evacuation or pre-evacuation areas, or about the fire, call the non-emergency line at 303-413-7730 and check Boulder OEM for the latest updates.

Learn more about the fire with these stories:

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