Cause of devastating Colorado fire still under investigation

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (NBC) – Investigators are still trying to pinpoint how the so-called Marshall Fire in Colorado started.

Investigators were out looking at a site in Boulder County, Colorado, Sunday.

Initial reports of the fire were from residents who said they saw downed power lines where the fire started.

After further investigation, authorities say Xcel Energy inspected where the fire started and they did not find downed power lines. They did find downed communications lines that were likely mistaken as power lines.

According to Boulder County officials, communications lines like telephone, cable, or internet lines would not be the cause of a fire.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said their investigation is continuing, but he refuses to speculate on anything. He says there’s too much on the line.

“I’m certainly not going to speculate,” Sheriff Pelle explained. “There’s a lot at stake, okay. But something ignited the fire in the wind on a Red Flag day. And our job and responsibility and our quest is to determine what started that fire, what ignited it. And I don’t have a definitive or final answer for you yet. And I don’t want to go down rabbit holes as far as speculation.”

The fire damaged or destroyed more than 1,000 homes and is the most devastating fire in Colorado history.

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