The Marshall Fire: One year later

[Music] thank you okay there you go here we go spicy Jesus move now leave your stuff go the fire's at the back go okay [ __ ] everybody get out of the store now you know it was a fire but it was also like an act of insane Mother Nature on a day like that there was nothing you could do to stop it go back just go back go back Jack Palmer p-o-m-m-e-r I was on my way to the grocery store and I saw the spoke and uh I just stopped to take some pictures of it it was mostly just smoke when I got there I thought it was just a little bit of a brush fire and that they would knock it out pretty quickly in fact that's kind of why I didn't go home and get a real camera because I figured by the time I got back it'll be out thank you the wind was changing and at one moment the whole fire scene would be covered with smoke and it would sort of blow away like reveal it I was getting some stuff ready for New Year's and all that good stuff right I made my way to Costco that day there was a noticeable fire going on it didn't look super bad it looked like it was a really small Wildfire but as I kind of drove a little bit more the smoke started to intensify look guys it's insane it's right there look [Music] foreign there was a shed where there was a fire and smoke behind it but the wind was sort of blowing the fire the other direction and then I noticed and started to smoke and then it burst into flame that's when it started to to look like a big fire and not just a lot of smoke oh my gosh me and my fiance were at home kind of just chilling we saw some smoke out in the out in the distance and Colorado was warm we're used to wildfires in general went from just the little wisp to getting a little bit bigger getting a little bit bigger and then all of a sudden you're just watching these clouds just form and change colors you know none of us knew how long we even had it happened so fast we just kind of had to make decisions and get out of here whatever was in our pockets or what we were wearing is what we got out of there with and at that point you know both of us we were like oh like okay something bad is is coming oh my God bro I've never been on oh my God oh my God I can't see I can't see it was something that I've never seen in my life before when I turned the car back that's when I started to get the fear of maybe we should just try to get out of here as quickly as possible we're gonna get a crashed on guys Josh hopeless right now God help us boys holy holy [ __ ] holy holy did you guys just see that towards Denver you're back right now holy crap sorry we live in Cold Creek Ranch South and we were here just over 29 years in that house we were the original owners it's raining Ash too and I happened to look out the window and saw that the sky had changed colors pretty bad I didn't see any houses burn all I saw was a field on fire got a coat got my purse unplugged the crock pot so the house wouldn't burn down that's how I always think when I leave I don't like the crock pot plugged in [Music] I got on Facebook and people were talking about the fire being behind Costco and Target evacuate Costco now head eastbound leave your cards go on December 30th I woke up with sort of a strange feeling I I don't want to say I'm intuitive or anything but it was just this weird feeling it was so windy and Smoky that people were completely disoriented and trying to find their vehicles and get out safely tons of people running out stuff was just flying everywhere it was like a mini Armageddon in my Costco parking lot [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] black and then I saw one of the Boulder County trucks that do the animal control and I'm like ah I go with these guys and then I just follow them and we went to the pet daycare Place let's go let's go guys let's go let's take a good boy I'm gonna look inside and see if there's more some of the dogs were out and we were able to get all the dogs locally puppy there's one more there's one more there was a dog that escaped now we couldn't grab and as they were about to roll that dog I saw the dog underneath the truck stops each other in the car I'm a combat better and I was in the Army and you know I was in Iraq a couple tours actually there was a moment that it felt like like I was back in in Iraq there was a moment that I actually thought that the whole city was gonna burn foreign so my name is Maxwell cook I'm a PhD student in the department of geography at University of Colorado Boulder and part of the earth lab and we study Wildfire impacts in the western U.S and in the globe what we do know is that this fire moved incredibly fast and that was followed by one of the driest six month periods on record really set the stage for there to be a lot of these bind fuels that were really dried out by the time we had an ignition source go back go back go back just go back that is exactly what we saw and then sadly one by one like dominoes the homes are igniting the next door homes and it spreads through the neighborhood Commander 2660. go ahead I have multiple houses involved up here on Hillside I have four type one apparatus we can use additional up here otherwise the house was smelling Smoky nothing on the Block was on fire yet what do I know I don't know anything about fires but I figured I got like at least 10 20 minutes but I wasn't going to use all that I stood by the window to look West and all I saw was the building smoke coming in but then what got me nervous was it was cold that day but the heat was coming through the window and I could feel my face like hot like I stuck my head in the oven so that's when I said okay I gotta get out I didn't even grab anything and you know in retrospect there was a handful things I should have grabbed 22.62 .99 let's go ahead and cut I'm afraid we're not gonna be able to get out of the neighborhood I'm at 88th and Dylan with Marcelo what do you need me just push everything East copy I'm out with him Marcelo we got fired there we need to get them going it's a difficult situation because you understand that something they love and cherish is in in danger she's got two kids I gotta take her to Dylan are you two kids or two puppies no turn your car around I apologize I get that turn your car around you know it's turning people away it's not fun but you know you have to do it you know as a pet owner myself you know that was the big thing I think everybody wanted to go get their pets and it's you know it's tough to do that the area is evacuated back up and turn around back up and turn around do this dude do you know how many people with dogs I've turned around turn around I'm sorry turn around dude I feel free do you think I like doing this go I'll put the risk let me go you take it go [Music] everybody out everybody out [Music] a little after 2 30 or so we headed up to Boulder to help I remember there was a lot of smoke a very thick smoke that we were driving basically right toward 36 was empty because they had shut it down so just it was unbelievable I had never seen anything like that foreign [Music] it was a day where I felt like I was making thousands of very high concentration high input decisions and not any of them made any difference there was nothing you could do I know the people that were the first to leave in my neighborhood and I know the people that were the absolute last last last last human being to walk out of there and the net result was the same I watched my neighbor's house catch on fire I saw the corner of my house starting to catch on fire well it was fairly well engulfed so it really didn't matter how much you fought the fight all you got was more video of your house burning [Music] and it's those Embers that are just so quick especially in a howling wind Emperors can travel more than a mile they carry the fire some of them can be as big as your hand [Music] stop in this house [Music] first thing I remember is a fire just north of Boulder and I got my camera and started heading that way checked in with command there and they just said go ahead and take some photos and just started snapping three times yes an AMR responded to North Hills Highway oh yeah three to four foot Flames since we're probably 20 by 20 in area you could hear it was a distressing situation for them Bible splitting fast and uh very high extremely worrisome so it was a day where any fire with high wind was going to be a big concerned I'm just passing the fire it is on each side of the road I'm heading to station one for vehicles hey what's the tech channel for this Middle Fork fire and uh because it started earlier I would have had so much more time to develop into something larger than the Marshall fire much larger it was a lucky day in a way on the Milford Fire [Music] stop right here I didn't think our house was going to burn down because of the fire across the street and about 4 30 between 4 30 and 5 my husband called me and he says our house is gone I'm seeing it burning on TV [Music] I was numb I was just so surreal that the whole neighborhood was gone [Music] if this is happening in a place like Colorado in December I can't imagine what's to come when people look at Superior what they need to understand is that this can now happen anywhere places where people live High dense populations and every Community needs to be on high alert a lot of these people had just bought their homes and then you're hearing these stories of just everything going away and like all their dreams and and thank God very few lives were lost but you know even days after you can't forget about the fire because you you can barely Drive in Superior without smelling the fire [Music] foreign [Music] part of your brain that even though you're looking at everything being burned you still think that your house is going to be the one that survives you know hey Connor um just want you to know that you know life is sometimes life can throw you some big hooks and you have to just keep going and you have to keep going and you have to keep going and you just gotta keep fighting and you never ever stop you never stop you never stop okay I wanted him to know that to help foreign I did what I could to try to save our house and there's just sometimes when you can't and and and and and and you I just wanted him to know that there's a way to pick up the pieces maybe and figure it out and move on and um I don't know it was a moment where I felt like I needed foreign to say that you know here we go spicy [Music] wow Jesus full neighborhood just gone can't even see it's so windy I hope as a community we can learn from this and I guess I'm grateful for having a chance to start over [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] to the recovery I'm Nelson Garcia I'm Angela McCall and in the next half hour we'll share with you the stories of three families who lost everything and their process to rebuild their homes I followed a family who lost multiple homes I followed a family who moved to this country and our colleague Katie Eastman followed a family who had just built their dream home we begin with Katie who had a baby this fall so she'll start and I'll finish her story about the farringtons foreign [Music] I think we're just getting comfortable with living in the uncertain forecast so this is a triage room that's a good way to put a triage ramps Nick and Katie Farrington think about life in stages stage right now excuse me girl how was your day good it's the one where they have great jobs and two kids Harper and Emery hey baby girl how was your day good in this phase of Life they also had their dream home in Boulder County in 2020 they lived in an RV on Panorama Drive while they scraped the house that was here and built this we weren't planning on going anywhere and we'd even said uh like we're never building a house again so yeah we were ready to to be there till who knows when well when came on December 30th 2021. yep we walked up the hill right there yep everything's gone the Marshall fire forced them back in time it really was living in the newness of so much uncertainty and where are we going to live you know we're in our third place now and we've got a fourth place lined up for June my room was that that metal pole to the um those things right the grief of what they lost came quickly tears for three days straight oh gosh but nearly two months after the fire Nick and Katie are done crying this is the set that my mom got us that my wife hates the laughter comes easier as they work toward what's next at least I don't have to take down Christmas lights this year laughter even as they look at the reality of being eight hundred thousand dollars underinsured it was just a comfort level where we were at and now I would say I'm scared to spend a dollar because I don't know how much you know we're gonna have to make up yeah we did the deck that was a thing of beauty by the way did you steal front was it still framing today despite that Financial hit the farringtons still planned to rebuild there's a little bit of excitement that we can make some changes but there's a little bit of sadness that we have to go through this again yeah the Builder he understands were you guys at home when the fire started so you had to like watch it come in I did not yeah we left with nothing Josh Mitchell will not only rebuild Nick and Katie's house but his own too it's kind of therapeutic I guess in a sense I mean it's like this is what I always do every day so for me it seems a little bit easier each step forward reveals more loss good luck with your build process right yeah it's overwhelming knowing so many ended up in a stage of Life they never anticipated how are you doing she said she mixed because my house got burned down in the fire and then she could use help with rebuilding our house but then she so we'll have to frame it that was on her mind it's true I it's like cute and true and mixed emotions for sure Nick and Katie find Comfort going through a new chapter knowing they're not alone I hope you get another house even cooler so many people are motivated to just help the fire victims um you want to say that oh I hate that word I don't like being called a victim but I heard recently burnouts or like the burnouts the burnouts okay maybe I could do better with that one so today is day two of debris removal it's a big moment for us just to get the process going you got Twisted there are obvious reasons to celebrate come on let's go let's go and then there's the reason for this Gathering it's real glass you can just throw it at the house when you're done really there's plenty of equipment to clean it out I won't find any excuse to have at happy hour but uh no this one never crossed my mind to do it here but why not this happy hour might be unconventional here's to taking the first step to rebuilding but Nick and Katie Farrington cheers need to celebrate after so much loss so she grabbed our safe and some pictures and that's it when the Marshall fire destroyed their home on Panorama Drive it was hard to see this kind of hope good to see you good to see you the beginning of debris removal is the first sign of what's to come up they always wear the fanciest ones on the street they celebrate alongside neighbors who lost their homes too so Dave when are y'all getting started and the few neighbors who didn't how are you good good good so happy for you guys oh you know it's we're excited too we're just ready to get going I'm ready for you guys to come back because it's lonely down there even though this road has emptied out Community stayed put and so thanks for sharing it with us and I hope we get to be a part of all of yours too so and that's something to celebrate any day here's the celebrating every step of this journey here here yeah the girls have not wanted to come back out here until we have progress when life is a climb we know we're going to love this home whenever it's ready Nick Farrington believes that's when lessons are learned huge hole had to get dug and now we've got concrete going in Foundation is going in so actually they just finished today while they were waiting for the foundation to finally go in the family moved five times over the year a climb not expected by Katie Farrington no I didn't think it'd be that many times it's funny whenever he says five I guess it was five it just went by so fast you never felt like you were in your place you know in your own place uh they're always in somebody else's place now their place is finally turning into reality and they have moved to one final rental they hope until their so-called dream home is fully rebuilt a long-term house has provided a lot of yeah discomfort and like yeah just rest not knowing that we don't have to get up and do it again next week all right so this is the front of the house the garage is over there entrance will be right here now their worries can focus on the physical progress what I understand is once the concrete goes in some all the other trades can move a little bit quicker but this was the bottleneck for a lot of the constructions now their worries can focus so all this will be back back filled after the concrete dries on Nick leaving the country for two months for work during a critical time for the rebuild I worry about that but I'm going to do my best to stay involved and and she's smarter than I am so she'll keep it going The Climb continues he's here he's just you know 11 time zones away and so does the learning for parents and kids we hope this is a there's a lesson a milestone something in their life that they can look back and say well our house burned down and we were fine and we like we can get through anything [Music] so I wasn't really expecting this thing going to happen to my life the measure of a man's worth should not be found in a pile of rubble the measure for this man those who don't know me I'm Karma Sherpa can be found in his homeland of Nepal every year before the pandemic Karma Sherpa arranged to have doctors and dentists provide services that cannot be found in his impoverished Village he called them Health camps yeah mission accomplished the sidewalk we get in the house here he has a new Mission we're going to rebuild the house we don't know how long it's going to take it how long and how much love you man like his friends and Neighbors in the Sagamore neighborhood karma is worried about insurance I hope that you know would be enough to rebuild if the money is not enough I don't know what to do he's worried about the process without knowing much it's very difficult to to move forward so yeah this is a learning period for me but for all that is lost in everything is gone but this the flower part is still there he has a surviving symbol of growth but more importantly and then Sonia and then Deputy he has his family they have good Karma you see the loss of Silver Lining and lots of good part and good part of people and the people you know and you don't know them all coming together to have a couple moving out of state saw on Facebook that these people who for years have given everything had to evacuate with nothing a sweatshirt shoes my sister my father and my phone and that's about it so that couple gave the sherpa family their home to stay for free they had never met Sonia sonom Karma or daffodi before we cried I don't know how long I was survived one room with my parents and my sister all the people who are going through like me just stay positive and stay strong are you rebuilding or we want to oh good you know we want to Karma and daffodi moved to Colorado more than 20 years ago 13 years in this neighborhood Amy's and Lisa's I've talked with them I have you now karma ran a mountaineering tour company out of his home along with his Aid efforts for Nepal please stay strong but karma says this is what makes a community I love my neighbor I love the area this is why they have to come back I cannot really escape from the problem yeah thank you good to see you yeah thank you just patiently waiting for what's to come [Music] sometimes life has to go in stages especially after losing everything in the Marshall fire this house was a refuge offered by total strangers who heard what happened to the family of karma Sherpa yeah it's very important because after the fire you know a lot of places you know it's very hard to find a rental place the next stage is moving to a place where they can stay long the next stage before daffodi Sherpa you can go home we really hope this is the last house before we move into our new house right now you know the large Deputy mobile is completed the Sherpas and their two kids are preparing to live in this furnished rental for more than a year and I hope it doesn't take too long to go into the new house yeah this is it Sonam Sherpa likes the room uh there is some apprehension on what's to come but he's tired of the uncertainty tired of living his life in stages I'm hopeful that you know this is just going to be like a final long long stretch that no more issues or no more troubles ahead he is thankful he doesn't have to share space with the younger Sonia my sister would just decimate my own room with lots of toys but now there's a separate room so I hope a separate mess at least there is one the Sherpas had no possessions nearly six months ago not having much some situation makes easier especially for moving Karma says most of the things they do have now were donated proving to him with the community's help they never had nothing I don't feel at all that I don't have anything I feel that we have everything everything we need they have a place to live but it's still not home I mean your house is your house we keep work every day and then until we get there you know it's a long journey [Music] foreign even without his house to keep things going on you know Karma Sherpa still wants to be a good host we just have a good time and then good moment and then share something in the middle of the Marshall fire zone he pours tea a tradition from his home country Nepal with a hope that one day he can share it inside his rebuilt house in the Sagamore neighborhood the physical structure is needs to build up but but there will that will come along but nearly a year later his lot is still just a pile of dirt while some neighboring homes already have construction well underway I was hoping to put the foundation by end of October but an insurance shortfall of nearly two hundred thousand dollars delayed the process leaving his wife daphuty and their kids wondering why not us but it didn't happen and then it's now it's really cold too cold to break ground without increasing costs we need the money to build a house 10 months after the fire building plans were finally made and the sherpa said they eventually reached an agreement with their insurance to cover the needed costs so yeah it took a little while longer than we expected and then finally they are doing a writing and I think the right thing this is a living room this is the kitchen to make them whole again now we have a more clear picture that we get to build up just like their neighbors a lot of houses popping up that's a good thing just like the Thousand others who lost their homes on December 30 2021. the part was burning right here one year later daffodi doesn't think about the home that was destroyed she thinks about something more important she lost three months after the fire I lost my dad so I think more about my anniversary of my dad there are some challenging day and in some trading day but then we just had to deal with that and keep moving forward so with a dream that one year from now then this area gonna be the kitchen and dining room they can serve tea at home I hope so but I don't know and then there's always surprises comes up prizes I hope that everybody's back in their own house by this time next year [Music] foreign [Music] just so much family here and and we just want to rebuild and stay as one [Music] come in come in this wouldn't be their normal Gathering space I just told him I didn't want to be on film as you can see we're close tie we're close family well she's my sister but she acts like I'm her mother she's my best friend the Chavez family knows what's more important than the location man he looks just like Oprah Ted has taught his kids and their kids yeah to love where they come from let's get here the baby of the family won't ever know the five Chavez homes looked like in Old Town Superior before they burned that's just amazing it's all gone all gone Ted lost his home so did his mom Elsie we've been here forever so it's really hard to see this and they lived on the same block with other relatives on what they called the Chavez compound with five family homes five generations this is our fifth generation right here these two are our fifth generation we want we want to leave it to them yes we do there's a lot to go through it's just mind-blowing I know the kids want to say would you vote no I'm not moving up maybe when I'm with the good Lord calls for me they can take me out but right now I'm staying we'll get together and this is going to get stronger we're going to be stronger blast the cooks thank you all for homemade dinner tonight getting everybody together homemade spaghetti and sauce and everything somebody needs a place this is my granddaughter Samantha she's the one that has that little Monster little girl everybody I just want to say thank you for all coming for Mom's birthday party g77 happy birthday Mom and I really appreciate you all coming and expect this surprise it really it's like a dream you know and uh no I I just I'm just thankful to the good Lord that we could do this today [Music] happy birthday to you if it weren't for the fire Elsie's birthday would normally be celebrated in Old Town Superior happy birthday to you and help those without houses can feel at home we just have to go on it is tough but just like four years ago I lost my husband we were like this that was tough so I just think that this is a new beginning maybe this was supposed to be celebration is their way of moving forward to cherish what really matters you can go now I love you thank you for everything yes a lot of memories but we'll create more we'll create more we just uh we just got to get back up on our feet get this cleaned up man we wanted the yard cleaned up but we didn't expect this huh this moment yeah is one step closer to living again in the place they call home yeah I pretty much know this yard like the back of my hand said Chavez lived in Old Town Superior next to his mom Elsie thinking of all the little things gave me my we couldn't find anything they're all gone the Chavez family has lived on this corner for 70 years oh they had to rip up yours and Terry's concrete job [Laughter] all those memories are buried in here how many all of them they lost five houses to the Marshall fire yeah this is a a good mess you know it was time to get rid of all that stuff and quit seeing the memory there you know it's just about to make me cry I'm looking forward to a new beginning and uh and just praying that everything works out for us so that we come back home I can't wait it's hard but it's getting done yeah yeah I'm sorry finally it's sad knowing that there's a lot of stuff like we should have been having in the sky as much as Elsie wanted this day to come yeah it doesn't make this moment easier I get too sad too fast so it's gonna be hard to see a goal hard yes you know that this feels like bump but necessary to move forward kind of like when you bury someone it's the closure you know of burying some something it's been a long call Long Haul very long haul [Music] so here's Carmen's corner and that's Carmen's corner with the Chavez family sees is not what's here but what Can Be Imagined and we're going to have crawl space foundations no basements for so long they've waited to visualize their dreams let me show you this since we're closer to this real quick Ted knows what he sees a home that I could call home again you want to take a look at the samples now your contractor Mark Stringfellow has options here are the carpet samples soon the first of the modular homes will arrive with what they've chosen the hardwood flooring samples the laminate pick out the cabinets and also the bathroom vanities I see a gorgeous beautiful house sitting here and a lot of yard work that needs to be done which I'm not doing anything now I used to say I hate doing yard work but I actually miss it so I want to give those to you okay finally it's something that feels tangible I'll tell you there's time I want to give up but I have family and my friends and sitting for us so gotta keep them going you know listen you got to keep going you got to keep going we got to have another party all right we're going to do that it's like having ants in your pants or antsy now you know we want to get back but like I said thank God we are going to get back hope for the future means more when you can see it it's just uh putting more Spirit into our bodies and we know we're going to get here these stories continue to be ongoing and we plan on following them till the end when their homes are back here standing and though these families lost everything they still know it could have been so much worse we close out tonight remembering that two people who died during the Marshall fire 91 year old Nadine Turnbull and 69 year old Robert sharp we offer our condolences to the families

Channel: 9NEWS

Views: 19,590

Keywords: [ marshall-fire, colorado-specials, local, news, wildfire ]

Id: eJFW_zufze8

Length: 46min 5sec (2765 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 30 2022