Sharjah24 – Reuters: Two people were still missing and feared dead after a wildfire roared through two towns in Boulder County, Colorado, and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes, authorities said on Sunday.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said at a press briefing on Sunday that one person who had been reported as missing on Saturday was accounted for and was not harmed.

Pelle said the two missing people, whom he did not identify, lived in homes that were consumed by the blaze.

Search teams using dogs trained in finding bodies were working in rough conditions on Sunday, trying to find any human remains that may be among the burned buildings, Pelle said.

Officials initially said there were no reports of fatalities following the rare urban wildfire that erupted on Thursday afternoon on the northern outskirts of the Denver metropolitan area.

A member of Twelve Tribes reached by the Denver Post on Sunday denied that the fire started on the sect's Boulder property. The group did not reply to a request for comment by Reuters.

Pelle confirmed Saturday that officers served a search warrant related to the investigation but provided no more details.

Wind gusts on Thursday in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour) pushed flames eastward into the towns of Superior and Louisville, prompting the evacuation of both communities.