BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — On Monday, investigators continued searching for clues to what started the NCAR Fire over the weekend.
Early on, the focus was on the Bear Canyon drainage area near the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
Determining what starts a wildfire and its point of origin can take a while. The investigation begins even as firefighters are on the ground, and there are challenges almost every step of the way.
“Our concern today is that the wind is picking up a little bit,” NCAR Fire Incident Commander Brian Oliver said on Monday.
To learn more about how a wildfire is investigated, FOX31 talked to one of the state’s lead investigators on wildfire investigations, Dawn Tollis.
Tollis is not working on investigating the NCAR fire but has worked on others in the state, saying many questions must be scientifically proven.
“What was the weather like when the fire started? What was the humidity, the temperatures, the wind direction?” Tollis said. “We’re looking at what types of fuels are available. A lot of the footwork actually starts before we even get to the fire.”
Tollis said investigators even look at the shape of burned blades of grass, scorched rocks and bark on trees.
“We have to really take all of that information and start piecing it together and coming up with a hypothesis that make sense,” Tollis added.
The search for answers in learning more about one of Colorado’s latest wildfires will be a slow and tedious process.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is currently the official investigator in the fire. Boulder County is not releasing any new information at this point.