The Marshall Fire: One Year Later
It has been one year since the Marshall fire destroyed hundreds of houses and businesses in parts of Louisville, Superior and Boulder County. One year of sorting through what was lost. One year of trying to create a new normal. And one year of making a new home.
A year after the Marshall fire, community is scattered as people try to move home or move on
Fewer than 170 building permits have been issued for more than 1,000 burned homes. Empty lots are sitting for months on the market. Families are in limbo.
One year after the Marshall fire, housing advocates call for policy changes to help Colorado’s renters who survive a natural disaster
Renters whose homes sustained smoke and ash damage found themselves illegally evicted or persuading landlords to clean their residences following the environmental damage
Superior tries to reclaim sense of self after the Marshall fire, but the historic core may never be the same
Flames destroyed the museum, personal heirlooms and historic homes, but residents and town leaders are refusing to let the loss define them
Teens who lost their homes in the Marshall fire are still trying to heal their mental scars a year later
Teens’ trauma will likely stick with them, but their perception of the fire will change over time, a child therapist says.
“Air quality issues don’t go away when the fire is out”: Questions remain about long-term Marshall fire health effects
CU Boulder researchers found elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds and pollutants inside smoke-affected homes in the weeks after the fire
Colorado’s wildfire risk is so high some homeowners can’t get insured. The state may create last-resort coverage.
Some Colorado homeowners are telling state regulators and lawmakers that they can’t secure coverage for their homes because of rising wildfire risk
Past coverage
Colorado to dig up long-burning coal seam fire near Marshall disaster in Boulder County
The “Lewis Site” is another Marshall Mesa coal seam fire now heating up and needing urgent extinguishing
Colorado doesn’t have a statewide fire-resistant construction requirement. In the Marshall fire’s wake, critics say it’s time.
Instead of relying on a statewide building code to govern new home construction, as in some other fire-prone states, Colorado leaves it to communities to craft their own policies.
Photos
A Boulder Rural Fire Department firefighter approaches a burning home in Louisville on Dec. 30. (Jeremy Sparig, Special to The Colorado Sun) 
The Marshall Fire continued to burn Thursday night, Dec. 30, driven by 110 mph winds. (Jeremy Sparig, Special to The Colorado Sun) 
A burning home is reflected in the front door of another home at the near Trail Ridge Road and Washington Avenue, in Louisville, CO, on Dec. 30, 2021. (Jeremy Sparig, Special to The Colorado Sun) 
Patrick Hoffert, 10, plays tablet games at a Comfort Inn in Louisville. The family of five, with multiple pets, now lives in a two-bedroom suite after the Marshall Fire contaminated their home and belongings with smoke and ash. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America) 
Entire neighborhoods were destroyed by the Marshall fire, as seen during an overflight on Friday morning, Dec. 31, 2021. (Provided to The Colorado Sun) 
Homes and vehicles destroyed by Marshall Fire in a neighborhood near Harper Lake in Louisville on Friday morning, Dec. 31, 2021. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun) 
The Stanley family’s Chevy Equinox sits burned in their driveway on Jan. 14. The car wouldn’t start when the Marshall fire bore down on the family, and they fled in an Amazon van. (Steve Peterson, The Colorado Sun) 
Foundations are all that’s left of the Sagamore neighborhood in Superior after the Marshall Fire tore through the development Dec. 30. Every home in the development was destroyed in the fire. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun) 
David Gross, a 30-year resident with his wife, surveys the damage to his house south of Harper Lake. Marshall fire aftermath through neighborhoods in Louisville, Colorado, on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022. (Steve Peterson, Special to The Colorado Sun) 
Residential damage following the Marshall Fire is seen on Jan. 21, 2022 in Louisville. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America) 
A Samaritan’s Purse volunteer recovers an Army military coin belonging to Flemming Christensen on Feb. 16, 2022, in Louisville. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)