Colorado wildfire forces evacuation orders for 19,000 people

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Emergency officials say 19,400 Colorado residents are being ordered to evacuate Saturday due to a fast-moving wildfire in the area of a destructive 2021 blaze. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management reports evacuation orders cover 8,000 homes and 7,000 structures. A Boulder fire official says the fire has grown to 122 acres with no containment. The cause is not yet known. The fire is burning protected wildland near the Table Mesa neighborhood and National Center for Atmospheric Research. Authorities are calling it the NCAR fire. The flames are in an area where a fire destroyed 1,000 homes last year in unincorporated Boulder County and suburban Superior and Louisville.