Stone Canyon fire: One person dead, four firefighters injured and at least five homes destroyed in wildfire burning near Lyons

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Updated at 6:27 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2024

One person was killed and at least five homes were destroyed in the Stone Canyon wildfire, which sparked Tuesday and is burning near Lyons, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said.

More than 100 firefighters worked overnight to contain the fire, which has forced many residents to flee their homes. Police did not identify the person killed, but said the body was found in one of the homes. No other people in the wildfire area have been reported missing.

Four firefighters were injured trying to contain the blaze. Officials could not provide details about how two of the firefighters were injured Wednesday, but they said another two were hurt due to "the environment" and not the fire itself.

The cause of the wildfire is under investigation, Johnson said.

The Stone Canyon fire is covering an estimated 1,580 acres — or roughly two-and-a-half square miles — and has not been contained as of Wednesday morning, according to the Boulder Office of Disaster Management. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Johnson said the fire has not grown significantly.

The fire has destroyed at least three other structures, but firefighters don’t know if those are homes, barns or other buildings, said Vinnie Montez, a spokesperson with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.

What are firefighters doing at the Stone Canyon fire?

Crews from about a dozen Colorado agencies have helped fight the fire, including air drops of water and fire retardant to help smother the flames. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday afternoon that federal funds will be provided to cover much of the firefighting cost at Stone Canyon and the Alexander Mountain fire, burning about 25 miles to the north.

Some of the aircraft working at Stone Canyon were rerouted from the Alexander Mountain fire.

Aircraft will continue dropping water and fire retardant Wednesday, Johnson said. The focus if the firefighting efforts is currently on the northeastern edge of the blaze, which is the most active.

Authorities ordered evacuations for a wide region in and north of Lyons that extends from Ute Highway northeast to Devil’s Gulch and northwest to Carter Lake Reservoir.

The evacuations in the town near Eagle Canyon Road and Stone Canyon Drive were lifted Wednesday morning. 

Will conditions for the Stone Canyon fire improve?

The wildfire was stoked by dry, warm weather on Tuesday, but firefighters could be helped by slightly cooler weather on Wednesday.

Winds are expected to be light near the Stone Canyon fire and temperatures are forecasted to be cooler, according to the National Weather Service.

'I've never seen anything like that'

Suzanne Simmons jumped in the shower after doing chores around her Stone Canyon home on Tuesday. When she got out, her house was filled with smoke.

"I looked out the window — my back pasture was in flames," she told CPR News. "I had no time at all, so my two friends rushed over with a trailer."

Next thing she knew, a sheriff's deputy banged on her door and told Simmons she needed to evacuate immediately. She gathered her animals — five hens, four goats, three dogs and one alpaca — and fled with her son. Simmons said she hasn't heard whether her home survived, but was told at least two nearby homes were likely destroyed.

Simmons brought some of her animals to the Boulder County Fairgrounds with other evacuees. "We've all made friends here," she said. "We're a village."

Mary Dobbs, a former wildland firefighter herself, also evacuated her Indian Mountain home. She got her three horses loaded into a trailer, turned to look and saw that "everything was on fire."

"It's just unbelievable," she said. "I've been here 30 years. I've never seen anything like that."

Dobbs said her home and property, which were just outside the mandatory evacuation area, survived the fire, but she's worried about friends and neighbors in the area.

Tom Abbott also lives near Indian Mountain roughly a half mile from the Stone Canyon fire. He briefly evacuated yesterday, but returned to care of his four horses. Abbott said if the fire gets any hotter or crosses the road near his house, he'll cut a section of his fence and head away from the smoke.

Wayne Church and his wife Julie evacuated their house four miles north of Lyons yesterday. They quickly grabbed a few days of clothes, medicine, and some jewelry and rushed to Julie's family's house in Longmont. They estimated the fire is now only a half mile away from their home. "We got out pretty fast, and … we don't really know when we'll be able to get back."

This is a developing story and will be updated.