March 28 (UPI) -- Evacuation orders for around 8,000 homes near Boulder, Colo., have been lifted after firefighters achieved more than 35% containment of a wildfire that broke out Saturday.
Nearly 20,000 people had been under evacuation orders Sunday after the blaze broke out near the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research facility in Boulder, for which the NCAR Fire is named. The evacuation orders were lifted Sunday evening, officials said.
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said in a statement that the fire had burned through about 189 acres, roughly the same size it was earlier in the morning on Sunday. There were no injuries, damage to structures or missing people.
Brian Oliver, an incident commander for the fire, said in press briefing on Monday that crews have "had some really good success" and are working to "mop up and secure those fire perimeter areas."
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"The concerns we really have today is the weather. As you can hear, the wind is really picking up," Oliver said. "What we're trying to do is make sure everything is secure and buttoned up so we can face this little wind event this afternoon."
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office is seeking tips in its investigation into the cause of the fire from anyone who was hiking on trails south of the NCAR facility near the time the fire started.
Marya Washburn, the spokesperson for Boulder Fire-Rescue, said urged residents not to hike on local trails -- many of which remained closed.
"We know that folks in the city of Boulder really like to get outside and like to go on these hikes," Washburn said. "If they can go to places that aren't near the fire area, that would allow firefighters and the folks that need to work on this fire today and do the hard, good work that they're doing."
Oliver said firefighters in the west are no longer battling one season of wildfires.
"There's no longer a fire season, is really the concern. Fire season is year-round now," Oliver said. "If there's not active precipitation or snow on the ground, as you can see, it's March, there's no fire season and we just had a 200-acre fire."
