The wildfire in Colorado has destroyed nearly 1000 homes and three people are missing, an official confirmed.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted Thursday.
Officials had previously estimated that at least 500 homes — and possibly 1,000 — were destroyed. They also announced earlier Saturday that two people were missing.
The wind-whipped wildfire blackened entire neighborhoods in the area between Denver and Boulder.
Authorities had said earlier no one was missing in the area hit by Thursday’s blaze, but Boulder County spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said Saturday that was due to confusion inherent when agencies are scrambling to manage an emergency.
Pelle said officials were organizing cadaver teams to search for the missing in the Superior area and in unincorporated Boulder County. The task is complicated by debris from destroyed structures, covered by 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow dumped by a storm overnight, he said.