DENVER — For the past six months, Matteo Rebeschini and his family have struggled to get into a groove after the Marshall fire destroyed their home.
They’ve endured long commutes after finding a temporary home in Longmont that was an hour’s drive from their children’s school. They moved two more times after that.
They’ve battled their insurance company to collect every penny possible and still don’t have enough to rebuild. They’ve raised money through GoFundMe.
They’ve learned material possessions aren’t all that important. They’re leading an effort to build more fire-resistant homes in their neighborhood. And they’ve mourned a lost cat.
When Rebeschini talks about all they’ve been through since the Dec. 30 wildfire, it’s the lost cat that makes him choke up.
“Now we are doing better. But not being able to rescue the cat is still a point of sadness, especially for my kids and my wife,” Rebeschini said. ”We believe it’s still out there. We have hopes.”
Hope is important when the road to recovery is long.
On Dec. 30, 2021, the Marshall fire killed two people, destroyed 1,084 homes in Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County valued at more than $500 million dollars, and damaged other homes and businesses on its way to becoming the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history.
Authorities have not determined what started the fire, which happened on a day when raging winds blew for hours, sometimes gusting above 100 miles per hour, and consumed 6,000 acres of dry grass and brush.
Boulder County sheriff’s commander Jason Oehlkers said outside governmental agencies and private contractors have been brought in to help with the investigation because some of the material being reviewed and science being used is outside a typical deputy’s expertise.
Oehlkers would not say who is helping with the investigation and what expertise was needed.
Theories on the cause have ranged from downed utility lines to a continuously burning underground coal seam fire to a religious sect whose members sometimes burned trash on the property. Every tip and theory is being reviewed, Oehlkers said.
“We’ve taken some pretty crazy tips — anything from satellites with lasers to a drone with a flamethrower that may have started it,” he said.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t have a deadline for finishing the investigation. But its findings will be presented to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Oehlkers said.
“Don’t read into that that someone will be charged,” he said. “We want an extra set of eyes on it. There will be a lot of second-guessing.”
Significant financial impact
So far, no homes have been rebuilt, although a handful of building permits have been issued.
The work to remove debris from the lots of destroyed homes continues, surpassing the original pledge that it would be finished by July 1. Local governments are receiving federal and state financial assistance to help with rebuilding, but their budgets are taking hits because of out-of-pocket expenses and lost tax revenue.
Boulder County already experienced its share of disasters, so public officials say they are well-versed on how to respond and how to work across various agencies. But there still have been surprises.
“No two disasters are alike,” Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy said. “So there are all these different wrinkles and different challenges that we have to face and problem-solve.”
For example, ash and smoke from the fire contaminated Superior’s water reservoir. Residents still complain about a smoky taste to their water even after workers removed 100 cubic yards of ash from the reservoir, the city’s mayor pro tem, Mark Lacis, said in a State of Superior address last week.
The city is spending $1 million on a carbon filtration system to improve the water’s quality.
“Once we have that operational in July that should take care of the remaining taste issues people are having with the water,” Lacis said.
Superior’s town budget also has taken a hit.
The town’s 2022 tax revenue is down $3 million after the Element Hotel burned to the ground and the Superior Target and Tesla dealership are expected to remain closed most of the year, Lacis said. Property tax collections also are expected to fall.
The town will receive $20 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state and its private insurance carriers to help pay for expenses, Lacis said. But out-of-pocket expenses will be around $4 million — or 9% of the entire town budget, he said. Already, the town’s managers have trimmed $2.3 million in expenses.
“Make no mistake about it, the Marshall fire has had and will continue to have a significant financial impact on our town,” Lacis said during the address.
Clearing debris from lots
In Louisville, the city streets have taken a beating. First, the fire’s heat damaged roads. Now, the debris removal is causing more damage as heavy foundations, building remnants and dirt are being scraped — sometimes onto the streets — and then hauled away in heavy dump trucks, Mayor Ashley Stolzmann said.
The city conducts a street assessment every two years and creates a plan for upkeep. The last one was completed in the fall, just before the fire, Stolzmann said. Now it’s obsolete.
Repaving all the damaged streets will cost more than the city’s budget can cover. Stolzmann asked FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell for help during a June meeting of local officials at the Louisville Recreation and Senior Center.
Louisville’s finance department on June 19 told the City Council it would need to add $7.8 million to the city’s operating budget because of the fire. The city also will be responsible for $6.1 million to pay its share of the public debris removal program. Preliminary property tax collection estimates predict 2023 revenue will drop by almost $500,000 because the assessed values of fire-damaged homes will drop, according to documents from a finance committee meeting.
Criswell visited the burn zone to see how the recovery is going. Thus far, FEMA has contributed $30 million for the emergency response and to help with damage repairs and another $2 million for people who need temporary housing assistance, she said. FEMA also has committed to pay for 90% of the debris removal costs with the remaining 10% to be split between the state and the three local governments.
As for the actual debris removal work, Boulder County expects the project to be finished by mid-August, said Andrew Barth, a spokesman for the county’s public works department.
Of the 604 properties that enrolled in the public program, 150 have been finished, Barth said. That means debris is gone, a soil quality test has been passed and hydromulch that will prevent erosion has been applied. Another 230 homes are in the final inspection phase and 121 are awaiting hydromulch application, he said.
On June 30, the county announced that fire victims are still eligible to enroll in the public debris removal program if they’d rather not hire their own service to do it. They have until July 15 to sign up, Barth said.
“We’ve heard from people that they’ve not been able to find contractors,” he said.
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