UNINCORPORATED BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The Martinez family was just going about their Thursday when they returned home and saw smoke near their home.

“I went out back and I saw that there is a fire and little ember flames,” Joe Martinez, who owns a home in Unincorporated Boulder County said.  

Martinez said he started to check the TV, radio and computer for any information of what was happening but he said he wasn’t able to find anything. He said he went out back and attempted to use the hose to put out the little flames, but since it was a well run by a pump, the water wouldn’t come out.

“I didn’t hear any sirens going off. Nothing. Just by looking, we knew we had to go,” Martinez said.

He said his wife packed up their pets while he went back inside for one other cat.

“I ran back in to get her. I thought I would have time to grab things but we had no time. We had to get out,” Martinez said.

Quickly they realized they were trapped by fire.

“Our whole driveway was in flames. We couldn’t go out the normal way. We were going to try to cross over the field to the west, that was impossible too,” Martinez said.

Finally, after getting out of the danger, they received a notification to evacuate from the Town of Superior.

“We were getting emails from the Town of Superior to evacuate. It’s like we were gone a half-hour ago, otherwise, we’d be dead. I don’t know why that took so long,” Martinez said.

Sunday they were finally able to return and see their home of 35 years, Martinez described as a total loss.

“Basically all I have is what I’m wearing. It’s gone. There is nothing left,” Martinez said.