"No credible evidence" Nederland fire was intentionally set

There is “no credible evidence” that the fire that destroyed businesses in the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland last week was intentionally set, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday afternoon.

The final determination on the origin and cause of the fire is pending, as detectives await the outcome of evidence submitted to a lab for testing and analysis, according to a news release.

Over the past week, an investigative team has conducted interviews, has reviewed surveillance footage, has analyzed photographs and videos submitted by the public, and has excavated the fire scene to collect evidence.

Investigators from the sheriff’s office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team; the Nederland Fire Protection District; the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control are all working on the case. It was not clear how long investigators will remain on scene.

The fire spread quickly through the shopping center in the predawn hours of Oct. 9, destroying more than a dozen businesses. No people were injured in the blaze, but all of the animals at the Wild Bear Nature Center perished. The fire did not spread to the nearby B&F Mountain Market or the Carousel of Happiness. The market, the town’s only grocery store, reopened Sunday.  The carousel reopened Thursday.

Seventeen businesses and the sheriff’s office Nederland substation were a “complete structural loss,” the sheriff’s office said in Thursday’s release.

Once investigators reach a final determination of origin and cause, the sheriff’s office, Nederland Fire Protection District and the ATF will provide an update. It was not immediately clear how long that would take.

Big Springs Drive, behind the Caribou Village Shopping Center, is now open.

Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 5:58 PM MDT

Source – Indonesia News