BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — New records show the property that the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating as the potential origin of the Marshall Fire has a history of controlled burns.
The property, located in the 5300 block of Eldorado Springs Drive, has had 13 fire-related calls for service since January 2018. Of those calls, 12 were to report controlled burns. The fire department did not respond in person to any of those calls.
According to phone numbers listed in the report, the person who made each of those calls may be tied to the Twelve Tribes group, which is located on the same property.
The report does not include a call to a nearby address on Dec. 24, 2021, regarding a fire on the property. However, a report obtained by the FOX31 Problem Solvers shows someone called 911 at 11:50 a.m. “for the report of a trash or grass fire as seen from a passer-by driving on Highway 93.”
It goes on to say, “There the homeowner was burning rubbish in a dirt field. The fire was visible from the road. He stated that he would be burning railroad ties for the next few hours. He also had a front-end loader and a water source established for control measures.”
Fire crews left after 11 minutes on scene. It is unclear if anyone from the property called the fire department or dispatch to alert them to the controlled burn on Dec. 24. According to BCSO, authorities are “not releasing information related to that call at this time on the basis that disclosure is not in the public interest.”
Similarly, authorities have not released information about any calls for service to the Twelve Tribes property from Dec. 30, 2021, which is the day the Marshall Fire began.
“I really don’t know where it started. I know for sure I saw smoke there at 11:10 when I was driving by,” Anne Michaels told FOX31.
Michaels says she saw smoke coming from the backyard of the Twelve Tribes property and began filming it.
“I think because it was so windy and it was just, it seemed so chaotic and to see smoke in the air in a small neighborhood blowing toward houses,” she said.
According to Michaels, she called 911 when she saw flames and even knocked on doors to warn neighbors. She is hoping her video holds a clue to help investigators pinpoint how and why the fire started.
“It’s so important to me because I don’t ever want it to happen again and the more information we have to prevent it is, it’s worth every little video,” she said.
FOX31 has reached out multiple times to Twelve Tribes but no one has responded.