CUSTOMERS fled a Chuck E Cheese outlet in Colorado after gale-force winds fanned wildfires in the area. A video posted by Jason Fletcher on Twitter showed flames just a few meters away from the family restaurant in Superior, Colorado, as dozens of people made the way to the exits with their children. Parents could be […]
CUSTOMERS fled a Chuck E Cheese outlet in Colorado after gale-force winds fanned wildfires in the area.
A video posted by Jason Fletcher on Twitter showed flames just a few meters away from the family restaurant in Superior, Colorado, as dozens of people made the way to the exits with their children.
Parents could be heard screaming as they gathered their kids up before leaving the eaterie.
People struggled to open the doors of the main entrance due to the high winds which reportedly reached gusts of 110mph on December 30.
Mr Fletcher had gone to Chuck E Cheese to enjoy an afternoon out with his family.
He told Insider that people first noticed smoke outside at around noon, but assumed the winds would blow it away.
But just minutes later a large smoke cloud slowly engulfed the outlet’s parking lot.
“Then my wife noticed the flames, and that’s when she called out to everybody,” Mr Fletcher said.
He added that everyone was just “gathering their kids and making sure they were safe”.
Around 1,000 homes are thought to have gone up in smoke in what is being called Colorado’s most destructive blaze in the state’s history.
The extent of the destruction was caught in aerial footage of the rapidly moving wildfire which was being blown by strong winds through the towns near Boulder.
Some 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.
Read our Superior, Colorado fire blog for the very latest news and updates…
Governor Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency, allowing the state to deploy emergency funds and resources including Colorado National Guard.
The wildfires have burnt across 6,000 acres and destroyed at least 500 homes.
“This fire is, frankly, a force of nature,” said Mr Polis. “For those who have lost everything that they’ve had, know that we will be there for you to help rebuild your lives.”
It’s thought the fires were ignited by sparks from power lines and transformers toppled by high winds, according to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle.
Although emergency authorities later said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out.
At least seven people were injured, but there have been no reports of any deaths or anyone missing in the wildfire that erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000.
Cathy Glaab found that her home in Superior had been turned into a pile of charred and twisted debris.
It was one of seven houses in a row that were destroyed.
The mailbox is standing, Glaab said.
Despite the devastation, she said they intend to rebuild the house she and her husband have had since 1998.
Rick Dixon feared there would be nothing to return to after he saw firefighters try to save his burning home on the news.
On Friday, Dixon, his wife and son found it mostly gutted with a gaping hole in the roof but still standing.
“We thought we lost everything,” he said.
President Joe Biden on Friday declared a major disaster in the area, ordering federal aid be made available to those affected.
Ninety per cent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and it hasn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on December 10, its last snowfall before the wildfires broke out.
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