Brave investigators are contradicting the many scientists who jumped to climate change conclusions before the embers were even cold on the Marshall Fire in revealing today that the tragedy was in fact sparked by two completely unrelated sources.
Here’s The Gazette reporting just the basic fact without the hype or threat of pending doom:
The first was human caused by a fire at a residence that was left to smolder six days earlier. Investigators said the fire had been covered in dirt, but on December 30, the high wind event uncovered and reignited the smoldering fire at about 11 a.m., Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said.
The second cause was sparked about an hour later by an unmoored Xcel Energy power line, Johnson said.
How. Utterly. Boring.
Not nearly as exciting as this report from CU Boulder Today citing experts including Natasha Stavros, director of the Earth Lab Analytics Hub at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
“It’s the first time in my career I have felt comfortable saying this is a climate fire,” said Stavros.
Cringe.
We hate it when science is wrong.
How’s the media supposed to report on this story without a political angle or a bogeyman to blame?
Here’s 9News with the win: Christians and Big Energy
#MarshallFire cause: A fire on a religious group’s land and Xcel Energy equipment were both to blame, officials say. WATCH: https://t.co/ylvsuaxZ6x pic.twitter.com/NA1OTNAQYZ
— 9NEWS Denver (@9NEWS) June 8, 2023