NEDERLAND, Colo. — Nederland business owners told Denver7 they are devastated after a fire ripped through a popular shopping center early Thursday morning.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office said a deputy on routine patrol spotted the fire at the Caribou Village Shopping Center, located at 20 Lakeview Drive, around 3:41 a.m. The deputy notified dispatch, and the Nederland Fire Rescue, along with other agencies, responded to the scene.
"We weren't fortunate enough to have a sprinkler system. There wasn't an alarm warning system," said Nederland Fire Chief Charlie Schmidtmann. "There was a couple things here that were kind of fighting against us."
An evacuation was issued for residents and businesses along the southern and western portions of Barker Reservoir around 4:28 a.m. That evacuation order was lifted around 9:47 a.m.
According to the sheriff's office, the two-story structure of businesses along the south side of the shopping center was fully engulfed in flames and sustained the most significant damage.
The Carousel of Happiness, located on the west side of the center, sustained minor damage. Nearby businesses, including Train Cars Coffee and Kava and B&F Market, were also spared from major damage, according to BCSO.
The sheriff's office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) are working together to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
No injuries have been reported. The Town of Nederland is asking residents to conserve water where possible, since a lot of water was used in the firefight.
Among the more than a dozen businesses decimated by the fire was a liquor store, a laundromat, a pizza shop and the Wild Bear Nature Center.
Denver7 spoke with Jill Dreves, the founder of the nature center, who said all of the animals that were staying at the center died in the fire.
"It's shocking," she said. "It's hard to believe that that really happened."
Dreves told Denver7 she and the community are devastated by the loss of the animals at the nature center.
"We have this beautiful turtle that the whole town has been in love with... she's been with us for 15 years," Dreves said. "Westie, she's a Western painted turtle, and our Sal and Sally salamanders and our bug zoo and all that. And it's sad, they've been ambassadors for people to understand their significance in the natural world and how we should be better, caring and stewarding for them. So I'm sad about that. I'm sad about that big loss of life."
For those like Logan Hanley and Luna Garcia-Paine, who grew up in Nederland, the loss of the shopping center is heartbreaking.
"I used to go there with my dad and my mom and my friends and, like, so much has happened there over the summer, and it's just it's all gone, and there's nothing that we can do about it," Garcia-Paine told Denver7.
Both said they've made countless memories at the shopping center, calling it the heart of the town.
"There has been so much that we have done here that it's kind of hard not to get emotional," Hanley told Denver7. "Just so many pizzas, so many nachos, so many clothes. Like everything is just, so many jokes, like everything."
"There's just so many stories that accumulate because of this building being here, and watching it just kind of smolder away and all of this, like all these couches and furniture and items inside just being torched, basically, the ash, is definitely very sad and just upsetting," Hanley added.
While law enforcement continues its investigations, local leaders, like Nederland Mayor Billy Giblin, said all they can do is support the business owners who've been impacted and community members left without a space to gather.
"My heart goes out for all the business owners in this community, in this shopping center, where this is a centerpiece to our town," Giblin said. "This is going to be a big impact on our community. We're just getting our heads around that."
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Boulder County Sheriff's Office by emailing BCSOtips@bouldercounty.gov or calling 303-441-2674.
