Colorado officials said on Friday that it was a “miracle” that no deaths were reported in a rare urban wildfire that moved at breakneck speeds across towns north of Denver, destroying upward of 1,000 homes.
The fire was driven by wind gusts of 105 miles per hour (169 km per hour), which caused flames to leapfrog over highways and entire neighborhoods on Thursday, authorities said. The winds created a mosaic burn pattern that saw untouched homes standing next to those left in ashes.
