Sunshine House Fire / Sanitas Wildland Fire

On December 19th, 2022 around 13:42 Sunshine Fire Protection District, Four Mile Fire Protection District, Gold Hill Fire Protection District, Boulder Rural Fire Rescue Engine 2301 & 2321, and American Medical Response Boulder was called to a residential structure fire at the 2900 block of Sunshine Canyon Drive a few miles up Sunshine Canyon in Boulder County. Boulder County Communications reported this began as an exterior fire and had spread to the home. 4566 arrived to a two-story residential structure, fully engulfed, evacuated with wildland involvement that was spreading quickly and requesting everyone continue emergent. Additional arriving units established a defensive strategy with wildland, and waiting additional resources. Battalion Chief 2570 arrived and assumed command and requested four additional tenders over the initial response. Crews encountered spot fires which were stretching resources thin trying to catch them before they spread. At 14:14 2590 and 4361 took over command of the wildland incident with BOCO Plan 1 and 2570 held command of the structure fire. At 14:40 Sunshine command requested two additional tenders and brush trucks. At 14:40 emergency traffic was called out from Brush 4333 due to fire overrunning their current location on Bristlecone Way with flames overhead. Crews worked the fire which was quickly fueled by dry fuels and driven by heavy winds pushing eastward into the Mount Sanitas area. The Pine Brook Hills area was one of the areas that was evacuated, including Seven Hills and Sunshine Canyon. Structure protection were requested in several areas. The cause of the house fire is under investigation by the MAFIT (Multi-Agency Fire Investigation Team). The one residence on Sunshine Canyon Drive was lost and one residence on Bristlecone Way sustained damage. Note that conditions changed quickly from fighting a residential fire to protecting other nearby houses from the wildland fire element that these firefighters had no time to change from their structure gear to lighter-weight Nomex. The fire was at 65% contained as of December 21st, 2022 and has burned 19 acres. Additional information and photos by Chris Rodgers / Code 10 Photography

Sunshine: Chief 4561, 4566, Engine 4501, Engine 4505, Brush 4532 & Brush 4535

Four Mile: Chief 4661, Chief 4662, Engine 4602, Tender 4642, Tender 4643 & Tender 4645

Gold Hill: Chief 5461, Engine 5402, Engine 5439 & Tender 5441

Boulder Rural: Command 2360, Command 2361, Engine 2301, Ambulance 2321 & Brush 2331

Boulder Fire-Rescue Department: Battalion Chief 2570, 2591, 2594, Engine 2501, Engine 2503, Brush 2531, Brush 2535 & Brush 2538

Mountain View Fire Rescue: Battalion Chief 2260, Chief 2261, Engine 2209 & Engine 2205 

Lafayette Fire Department: Brush 2631

Hygiene Fire Protection District: Engine 2802, Rescue 2851 & Tender 2840

Boulder Emergency Squad: Command 3161, Rescue 3151, Rescue 3122, Rescue 3124 & SARCOM 3155

Lyons Fire Protection District: Chief 4062 & Tender 4041

Lefthand Fire Protection District: Chief 4161, Tender 4141 & Utility 4158

Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department: Tender 4240

Louisville Fire Protection District: Brush 2732

Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District: Chief 4361, Rescue 4321, Brush 4331, Brush 4332, Brush 4333, Tender 4341, Tender 4342, Utility 4352 & Utility 4354 

Allenspark Fire Protection District: Tender 5541

Sugarloaf Fire Protection District: Chief 5561, Brush 5532 & Tender 5541

Nederland Fire Protection District: Brush 5631 & Tender 5641 

Coal Creek Canyon Fire Protection District: Brush 7031 & Water Tender 7042

Timberline Fire Protection District: Engine 5705

Boulder County Emergency Services: 1591, 1592 & 1593

Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control: Battalion Chief 12, MOD 111, MOD 112, Wildland 27 (MMA), & Wildland 28 (MMA)

American Medical Response: AMR 5, AMR 11 & AMR 4

Longmont Fire Department, Pinewood Springs Fire Protection District, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Boulder Police Department, Boulder County Fire Management, Boulder Office of Emergency Management, Boulder County Open Space, Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, American Red Cross & Xcel Energy

*Note, we have tried to add all the departments and or units that responded, staged or were requested, it became a long list, and was hard to get that info. If you do not see your department listed please let us know and we will add them.