Colorado firefighters make gains against a Boulder-area wildfire that forced thousands to evacuate

By: CNN

Posted: Mar 27, 2022 2:31 PM CDT

Originally Published: 27 MAR 22 14:35 ET

By Hannah Sarisohn and Holly Yan,(CNN) -- Just one day after a wildfire spurred evacuation orders for 19,000 people in Colorado, the inferno is already 21% contained, officials said Sunday.

Mike Smith of the Boulder Incident Management Team said he was "very happy" with the firefighting efforts against the NCAR fire, which started Saturday afternoon.

"We've had zero structures lost; we have zero reportable injuries currently," Smith told reporters Sunday.

"We had over 200 firefighters from over 30 agencies. That, combined with all of the fuel mitigation treatments that we've done in this area, is one of the reasons that we had such great success."

One day earlier, the NCAR fire wasn't contained at all. Officials ordered the evacuation of thousands of Boulder-area residents.

"Evacuation areas include 19,000 people and 8,000 homes," the Boulder Office of Emergency Management tweeted Saturday evening.

The Boulder Incident Management Team has been updating a map of the areas under evacuation orders and which areas are now "all clear."

Smith said officials will keep monitoring evacuation zones and expand them if necessary.

The cause of the wildfire remains unclear.