Colorado fire victims begin new year surveying destruction
SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — Hundreds of Colorado residents who had expected to ring in 2022 in their homes are instead starting off the new year trying to salvage what remains of them after a wind-whipped wildfire tore through the Denver suburbs.
Families forced to flee the flames with little warning returned to their neighborhoods Friday to find a patchwork of devastation. On some blocks, homes reduced to smoking ruins stood next to ones practically unscathed by the fires.
“For 35 years I walked out my front door, I saw beautiful homes,” Eric House said. “Now when I walk out, my home’s standing. I walk out my front door and this is what I see.”
At least seven people were injured, but remarkably there have been no reports of any deaths or anyone missing in the wildfire that erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000.
More than 500 homes were feared destroyed and now homeowners face the difficult task of rebuilding amid a global shortage of supplies brought on by the two-year pandemic.
“In the way the economy is right now — how long is it gonna take to build all these houses back?” asked Brian O’Neill, who owns a home in Louisville that burned to the ground.
Cathy Glaab found that her home in Superior had been turned into a pile of charred and twisted debris. It was one of seven houses in a row that were destroyed.
“The mailbox is standing,” Glaab said, trying to crack a smile through tears. She added sadly, “So many memories.”
Despite the devastation, she said they intend to rebuild the house she and her husband have had since 1998. They love that the land backs up to a natural space, and they have a view of the mountains from the back.
Rick Dixon feared...
