Slim pickings on area hotel rooms

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There is no good time to be forced from your home, but if more Boulder residents are forced to evacuate due to the Flagstaff Fire, finding a place to stay in the area may become an added frustration. In addition to the pending Fourth of July holiday, a softball tournament in the area threatens to make hotel rooms scarce throughout the weekend.

 

On Wednesday, the only mandatory evacuations were the 26 residences near Bison Drive and Kossler Lake that forced 12 people to seek shelter Tuesday evening at the East Boulder Community Center. Yet if any of the existing 2,416 pre-evacuation orders become mandatory, high occupancy in local hotels may scatter residents farther from their homes.

“We had some people going to the shelter last night that had tried to get a hotel, and they informed the folks at the shelter that all the hotels are booked,” said Dan Rowland, communications specialist for Boulder County. He said county officials were told “that every hotel room in the Boulder area is sold out.”

The Louisville Slugger Independence Day Tournament, hosted by the Boulder Competitive Girls Softball Organization, features 160 teams from 32 different states staying in Boulder, Louisville and Longmont — a boon to local businesses and hotels but a potential choke point if the Flagstaff Fire worsens.

The Boulder Marriott had no availability, and a search of Marriott-affiliated hotels showed the nearest one with rooms being located in Greeley. The Boulder Inn Best Western had no rooms available but suggested that mountain resort towns might become a haven for south Boulder evacuees.

“It’s going be tough finding anything around the Boulder area,” said a spokesperson at the Best Western.

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