We now know the cause of the state’s most destructive wildfire. Investigators say the Marshal Fire was made up of two separate fires that eventually joined together. One started when a homeowner attempted to burn yard waste 6 days before the fire burned out of control. They say the fire was initially covered with dirt but eventually spread after high winds blew the dirt off. Officials say the second fire was started by particles from an XCEL power line. The two fires combined, and grew to more than 6 thousand acres. Around thirty-five thousand people were forced to evacuate, and more than a thousand structures were destroyed. Two people died in the fire and it’s estimated nearly a thousand pets were killed in the marshal fire.
