Colorado has found itself in the unwelcome national spotlight this summer. Even before the deadly movie theater shootings in Aurora, the state was in the midst of its most destructive and expensive wildfire season in history.
Blazes from Colorado Springs to Estes Park to Larimer County have destroyed more than 630 homes and killed six people this year. Property damages are approaching a half-billion dollars. And many of the wildfire鈥檚 victims continue to live their lives in limbo.
Assessing the Damages
A bulldozer scoops up ash and debris in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs. When the roared over the hill behind it in June, more than 350 houses were destroyed here, reducing this affluent neighborhood at the foot of the mountains to rubble.
鈥淲e鈥檙e walking on the disintegrated driveway right now,鈥� says Cj Moore as she steps over cracked glass and stone that exploded in the fire鈥檚 inferno.
Today only a few blackened trees sway eerily in the wind where her home used to stand on Mirror Lake Court.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my freezer curled up over there, looks like it鈥檚 just curled up,鈥� she says. 鈥淯nder here is a furnace, completely melted.鈥�
Moore and her late husband built this home on a subdivided ranch in 1985 when he retired from Fort Carson. The Waldo Canyon Fire also destroyed another home nearby she inherited from her father in law.
Moore, a longtime public affairs specialist with Kaiser Permanente, plans to rebuild both, but some things she鈥檒l never be able to replace.
鈥淥ne of the things I thought about the other day was the flag that was over my late husband鈥檚 casket,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 replace that, I mean I can get another flag, but it wouldn鈥檛 have served the same purpose, and then tears well up.鈥�
Moore鈥檚 insurance company is already replacing what鈥檚 replaceable. Friends have given her dish towels and silverware. She鈥檚 getting used to accepting charity.
鈥淢ost of us are the givers, we鈥檙e big supporters of United Way, we鈥檙e big supporters of different charities,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been real hard to accept charity.鈥�
Tourism Impacted
Local non-profits have stepped up, and many businesses are offering discounts for victims. All the replacing and rebuilding could create a mini-stimulus to local economies. But that might be tempered by the expected fallout the wildfires are having on Colorado鈥檚 multi-billion dollar a year tourism industry.
Two hours north of Colorado Springs, along Highway 287 north of Fort Collins is , a rafting and guiding company.
During the peak season in June, Owner Ryan Barwick had to suspend rafting trips on the nearby Cache Le Poudre River when the .
鈥淎 lot of us do live paycheck to paycheck and when you鈥檙e shut down for three weeks, you鈥檙e a small business we don鈥檛 have that cushion to fall back on,鈥� Barwick says.
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Even before the fire it was hard to sell whitewater trips during a drought. It鈥檚 even harder now when the river is a trickle of black sediment running off the canyons above. Barwick has joined with other businesses in the area to offer package deals and discounts in hopes of luring back customers.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had rock slides we鈥檝e had mudslides, we鈥檝e had black water, I mean you name it we鈥檝e encountered it this year,鈥� Barwick says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty much every head wind that you fear at the beginning of each season compiled all into one season.鈥�
A Long Recovery
On a recent evening in downtown Fort Collins, people who lost their homes in the High Park Fire met with victims of the near Boulder.
鈥淎 show of hands, how many of you in this room are feeling a sense of extreme hopelessness,鈥� asked one speaker whose house was destroyed in that 2010 fire, which until this year had been the state鈥檚 most destructive. The man went on to say things will get better, and the two groups swapped stories of wrangling with their insurance companies and other issues.
High Park victim Teresa Brown didn鈥檛 have rental insurance and lost almost everything in the blaze; including a horse trailer, car, kayak and a mountain bike along with most of the contents inside her rental house.
鈥淎nd the problem for me is that I鈥檓 not considered low enough income to get aid,鈥� Brown says.
So she鈥檚 been hitting every yard sale she can find and the local Salvation Army.
She may have even found a new rental, in the very same mountain canyon where her old house stood.
Moore isn鈥檛 afraid to move back.
鈥淚 feel like each part of the country really does have its own weather hazard, and you just choose which ones you like and where you love to be,鈥� she says.
Larimer County recently decided to lower building permit fees for some High Park victims. The federal government is also making some loans available to those who lost everything.
Officials in both the High Park and Waldo Canyon areas say it鈥檚 too early to tell how many people will rebuild, but they expect some won't.
鈥淎 lot of the reason people moved to the mountains was for the scenic view and to be around the trees, and a lot of that鈥檚 gone now,鈥� says Larimer County fire recovery manager Gary Darling.
