Two People Missing In Colorado Wildfires: ‘It’s Difficult Not Knowing’
By Kristin Myers on January 2, 2022 at 6:00 AM EST
Although the Colorado wildfires were mostly extinguished by snowfall on New Year’s Day, there is some bad news.
According to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management, two people have been declared missing. Spokesperson Jennifer Churchill declined to release the identities of the two missing individuals, but local station 9News echoed a family’s cry for help as they tried to find a missing grandmother.
The 91-year-old woman, named Nadine Turnbull, had been living in Old Town Superior, which was one of the hardest-hit areas from the blaze.
Grandson-In-Law Says ‘It’s Difficult, Difficult Not Knowing’
Turnbull’s grandson-in-law, Hutch Armstrong, told News9 that they “tried to go out the front door with the neighbor. It was engulfed. [We] checked the back door and it was engulfed.”
A cousin was able to escape out the side door and tried to go back in for Turnbull, but firefighters pulled her away. The cousin reportedly suffered burns on her arms and legs.
The family reported Turnbull missing shortly after.
“It’s difficult, difficult not knowing,” Armstrong said. “[We’d] much rather know.”
Armstrong described her as “just a nice person, genuine person.”
“My wife went over there, what, the day after Christmas was talking to her and she said she's doing good,” he added. “She said, I'm going to live to be a hundred.”
Colorado Wildfires Destroy Over 500 Homes, 30,000 People Evacuated
As The Blast previously reported, the wildfires tore through 1,600 acres of Boulder county and destroyed over 500 homes. Over 30,000 people were evacuated as their homes and material possessions burned to the ground.
On Thursday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said that wind gusts had caused the wildfire to spread “down a football field in a matter of seconds.”
One local resident told CNN that “One minute, there was nothing. Then, plumes of smoke appeared. Then, flames. Then, the flames jumped around and multiplied.”
On Friday morning, Governor Polis tweeted, “This morning I’m joined by our emergency management experts to inspect the damage caused by the Marshall and Middle Fork fires. This is a tragedy and the emergency is not over. We will work together to support Coloradans affected by this devastating fire #coloradostrong”
Boulder Office Of Emergency Management Issues Statement Saturday Morning
On Saturday morning, the Boulder Office of Emergency Management, which helps residents prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and long-scale emergencies, took to Twitter to inform residents that they were shutting off water in burn areas.
“The Town of Superior is shutting off water in the burn areas to restore water pressure and prevent pipes from freezing,” they tweeted. “Emergency response teams and utility providers are working hard in areas impacted by the fire to protect affected homes from further damage. #MarshallFire.”
They also informed residents that “if your gas was shut off due to wildfires in the Superior and Louisville area,” to wait patiently as the company, Xcel, was following an established process to safely restore natural gas outages.
They also told residents that “Our Call Center is receiving many, many calls this morning. Please try to be patient as we make our way through and try to assist everyone. We understand everyone's frustration and are dedicated to helping however and as soon as we can!”
