In pictures | More than 500 homes are likely to be destroyed in the Colorado fires

Hundreds of homes were already destroyed by fires in Colorado on Thursday as the U.S. state was reeling from high winds amid a historic drought, officials said.

“We know that about 370 houses were destroyed in Sagamore subdivision. There is a possibility of 210 houses being demolished in the old town Superior, ”Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told a news conference.

The city of Boulder, with more than 100,000 inhabitants, is about fifty kilometers from the capital, Colorado, Denver.

The state in the American West is facing a historic drought, which has greatly facilitated the displacement of fires. Boulder County has at least 648 hectares of vegetation in smoke, including fires in hotels and shopping centers.

Winds of up to 160 km per hour were reported in some places, extinguishing fires and complicating the efforts of firefighters.

“I want to emphasize the scale and severity of this fire and its presence in a very densely populated area, we would not be surprised if injuries or deaths occur,” Joe Pelle warned.

Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate their homes on Thursday.

The move is related to Louisville, a municipality with a population of 20,000.

“If you are in the area, act quickly,” Boulder County Emergency Services warned.

“Strong winds quickly spread the fire and all planes were on the ground,” tweeted Jared Police, the governor of this mountainous state where the Rockies meet the Great Plains.

The American Meteorological Agency emphasized that “Leave Louisville or your life is in danger” by reporting winds of up to 170 km / h.

Superior, another city targeted by a full evacuation order, had 13,000 residents, covered in dark smoke on Thursday, according to images posted on social networks.

Patrick Kilbride, 72, was working at a hardware store when he was ordered to vacate, the local Denver Post newspaper reported.

The 72-year-old rushed to his home in Superior‌ to collect his belongings, but could not save anything except his car and the clothes he had behind him. Her cat and dog died in the blaze.

He told me about the house where he had lived for three decades.

“It’s a strange feeling to be completely free from a situation where you have all the amenities,” he told The Denver Post.

For much of the American West, Colorado is currently battling a drought that has lasted for several years, exacerbating the region’s dryness and causing fires.

While the latter is a natural part of the climate cycle, it is possible to clear vegetation and reduce the spread of diseases within it, increasing their prevalence.

With global warming, the intensity and frequency of drought episodes that threaten the food security of the population in particular may increase, although global temperatures could be limited to + 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era.

In addition, rising temperatures and rising heat waves and droughts create favorable conditions for forest or bush fires.

In recent years, the American West has experienced unprecedented fires, especially in California and Oregon.

For Daniel Swain, a meteorologist at UCLA, it’s hard to believe that these fires will happen in December, which is a quiet time for these kinds of events that usually happen in the area.

“However a record low of heat and drought this season, only two inches of snow has fallen so far this season, and add a hurricane with extreme downpours (160 km / h and above) … and the result is fires. Extremely dangerous. And very Move quickly, ”the researcher tweeted.