Slideshow from Fourmile Canyon fire
Authorities announced the Fourmile Canyon Fire was 100 percent contained on Monday night hours after 9Wants to Know learned that the person who started is a volunteer firefighter who lost his home to the fire.
The fire started just after 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 6 and went on to scorch an estimated 6,181 acres and destroy 166 homes. About 3,000 people were evacuated ahead of the fire.
Earlier on Monday, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fire started in a fire pit in the 7100 block of Fourmile Canyon Drive. Investigators think the wind reignited embers and blew them out of the fire pit.
9Wants to Know confirms that fire pit belongs to a 20-year volunteer with the Four Mile Fire Department, according to that fire department’s chief. It is an all-volunteer fire department.
The man is 71 years old and his house was built in 1996.
After the fire began, the firefighter fought the fire in the hills above Boulder for the next eight hours, but lost his home to the blaze.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says the last fire in the fire pit was several days before the wildfire started. Investigators say the property owner had tried to extinguish the fire pit by dousing it with water and stirring the ashes. Investigators think the wind reignited the embers on Sept. 6 and blew them out of the fire pit.
It is unknown if any criminal charges will be pursued, but investigators say in order for any charges to be filed, the person responsible would had to have acted recklessly or in a criminally negligent manner.
The sheriff’s office says the firefighter is a life-long member of the community and deputies do not feel he is a danger to the public.
The sheriff’s office plans to work closely with the Boulder County District Attorney’s office before any decisions are made on an arrest.
The firefighter who started the fire also made the initial 911 call. In the call, it sounded like the cause of the fire was an RV and exploding propane tanks. Brough says that call was misinterpreted and meant the fire was getting close to the RV.
