Officials probe cause of massive Colorado, USA fire; three missing

Snow covers the burnt remains of homes in Louisville, Colorado on Saturday. Pic/AP

Investigators are still trying to determine what sparked a massive fire in a suburban area near Denver that burnt neighborhoods to the ground and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and other buildings.

Three people are missing following the inferno that broke out Thursday. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Saturday authorities were pursuing a number of tips and had executed a search warrant at "one particular location." He declined to give details.

A National Guard Humvee blocked access to the property, which was only one of several under investigation, the official said.

Utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out in the area located between Denver and Boulder. The wildfire came unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow, conditions experts say certainly helped the fire spread. At least 991 homes and other buildings were destroyed, Pelle said, 553 in Louisville, 332 in Superior and 106 in unincorporated parts of the county. Hundreds more were damaged.

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