 A poorly extinguished campfire, smoldering as hot, dry winds whipped down from mountain peaks, sparked the fire that on Sunday destroyed three homes and spread across more than 600 acres, forcing evacuations of nearly 2,000 people southwest of Boulder. Campers Jimmy Andrew Suggs, 28, and Zackary Ryan Kuykendall, 26, both of Vinemont, Ala., face felony arson charges because, according to a statement issued by sheriff’s commander Mike Wagner, “lives were endangered as a result of the fire.” The men were booked into the Boulder County Jail. Fire investigators and sheriff's detectives were able to determine the origin of the fire was an ad hoc campsite near the Peak-to-Peak Highway and Cold Springs Road, according to the statement. Jimmy Suggs (Photo: Boulder County Sheriff's Office) 
 
 The sheriff's office says the men did not ensure the fire was property extinguished before they left, and that winds — combined with the hot and dry weather — allowed the campfire to keep smoldering. About 1,250 of those people were evacuated from areas north and west of Boulder Canyon and east of the Peak-to-Peak Highway on Saturday. Also closed, authorities said Sunday afternoon, were the Peak to Peak Highway between Sugarloaf and Ridge Road, Silver Point to Peak to Peak Highway, Cold Springs Road between Colorado 119 and Ridge Road, Ridge Road, Conifer Road, Thunder Ridge South Road, Cougar Road, Shady Hollow Road, Switzerland Park, Upham Gulch and Wolfetongue.
– More than 50 Colorado National Guardsmen are helping hundreds of firefighters battle a blaze that the Boulder County Sheriff's Office says was started by two careless campers from Alabama, USA Today and the AP report. Jimmy Suggs, 28, and Zackary Kuykendall, 26, of Vinemont were arrested Sunday and charged with fourth-degree arson—a felony because lives were endangered by the wildfire, a sheriff's statement cited by the Denver Post notes. They reportedly started the campfire Thursday night going into Friday at a campsite on private property near the Peak to Peak Highway and Cold Springs Road, and while it may be reasonable to assume the men didn't mean for the fire to get out of hand, the sheriff's statement notes they're being charged because they didn't make sure the fire had been put out properly or ensure the ashes were cooled down before they left the site, AL.com reports. The Cold Springs fire, which officials say was helped along by hot, dry weather and winds that blew the still-smoldering ash, has since Saturday spread over more than 600 acres, burned down three homes (one of which is a Nederland firefighter's, CNN reports) and three other buildings, and caused the evacuation of more than 2,000 people southwest of Boulder. Thirty other homes are still said to be at risk depending on how hot it gets and which way the wind blows. One resident who was evacuated tells the Boulder Daily Camera that as she was leaving the area, she "looked and saw an inferno in the sky." Both suspects are being held at the Boulder County Jail. The Denver Post has images of the wildfire and affected residents.