Nearly 1,000 homes destroyed, three people missing wildfire

A Colorado official said on Saturday nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and that three people were missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said that investigators were still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted on Thursday. The wind-whipped wildfire charred entire neighborhoods in a suburban area between Denver and Boulder. The task is complicated by debris from destroyed structures, covered by 8 inches of snow dumped by a storm overnight.