Investigators believe they know where the fire, that burned nearly 1000 homes, started. The same place they have been called to several times in the past, for illegal burning. The Twelve Tribes Christian religious sect.

 Mike Zoltowski, said Sunday he witnessed the start of the wildfire on the property next door to him — a pack of houses and land occupied by members of The Twelve Tribes, a Christian religious sect.

Members of the controversial sect, founded in the 1970s in Chattanooga, Tenn., lived in several buildings around 5325 Eldorado Springs Drive in Boulder County, Zoltowski said. That address is listed as the location of the Twelve Tribes’ “Community in Boulder” on the group’s website. The Eldorado Springs Drive compound is one of many communities and businesses affiliated with the Twelve Tribes across the world, including the Yellow Deli in Boulder and another community in Manitou Springs.

Twelve Tribes previously has been investigated for child labor law violations in New York and, in 2019, a former sect member told the CU Independent, the University of Colorado Boulder’s student news publication, that he was beaten as a child when he belonged to the group. 

According to investigators, “It’s really obvious where that fire started”.