By Josh Egbert, American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming, Public Affairs
It’s been nearly a year since one of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history. The Marshall Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes and forced nearly 35,000 residents to evacuate their Boulder County homes. From the start, American Red Cross volunteers were among those helping the community who had just lost everything.
“It was a very windy day and got worse as the morning and afternoon went by,” said Michelle Tschudy, a Red Cross volunteer. “The sky was cloudy early in the morning, but once the fire started, we had a blackened sky.”
It all started on the morning of December 30th, 2021. The fire was propelled by 100 mph winds. As it spread from home to home, a shelter was set up at the YMCA in Lafayette, where volunteers worked with Boulder County, faith-based organizations, other nonprofits and community members to provide a safe place to sleep, hot meals, mental health and health care, support and resources.
“The Red Cross was a real blessing,” said Dawn Paluch, whose home was destroyed in the fire. “They were at the disaster recovery center from the onset and helping folks in a myriad of ways.”
With the help of our local partners, more than 100 Red Cross volunteers offered emotional support, information on resources and a safe place to take shelter for victims and their pets until they could return home or to temporary housing.
Amy Acres, a Red Cross Disaster Health Services volunteer, worked with some of those who lost their homes. She remembers working with a 70-year-old woman who was able to leave her home immediately but didn’t take anything with her, thinking she would only be evacuated for a couple of hours, only to find out that she had nothing left to her 70-year-old history.
“She was so thankful for being alive and had an amazing positive attitude,” said Acres. “She was so appreciative of her son who also lost his house, and he was hospitalized after respiratory problems related to the fire as he rescued his elderly neighbors and how he was so thankful to survive the fire.”
In a year since the fire, some families have rebuilt while others have moved on. One of those residents, Tom, is enjoying a new life in his dream cabin in the woods.
“The journey wasn’t easy, but I would say that I weathered the trauma remarkably well,” said Tom. “The compassion shown by the Red Cross was deeply comforting in the face of such sudden, devastating loss.”
Much has been learned in the year since for both residents and volunteers. Karen McClure, a Red Cross volunteer from Northern Colorado, said the fire shows the importance of being prepared.
“We learn a bit more each time we respond about what we all need to be prepared for,” said McClure. “Also, I heard so many people say they were underinsured and would not have enough funds to rebuild; we increased our homeowner’s policy amount.”
Volunteers across the Colorado and Wyoming region of the Red Cross responded to the Marshall Fire. Volunteers from neighboring states also stepped in to help. George McCrory from the Nebraska-Iowa Region made the trip to Boulder County to help.
“We weren’t there to only give out supplies, but we were also there to listen and hear their story of how they evacuated, lost pets or recovered pets and just to be there in their time of need,” McCrory told us shortly after arriving in Colorado on January 2nd, 2022.
The shelter at the YMCA became a beacon of hope for those who lost everything. Lori Halverson, a volunteer from the Mile High chapter, said many people came to the shelter for information, even though they weren’t staying there.
“They just needed to find out what to do,” said Halverson in January. “They didn’t even know to begin to recover; we just took their information and signed them up for casework and talked with them.”
Just two days after the fire started, a snowstorm blanketed the area, ending the blaze. But the work of Red Cross volunteers didn’t. In all, 342 people sought refuge in the shelter where 7,200 meals and snacks were served; 609 relief items, including comfort kids and other supplies were distributed to those in need.
Every day, the Red Cross sees the heartbreak of families and communities trying to cope with tragedies like the Marshall Fire. You can help people affected by disasters and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift is a commitment to helping people in need and every donation matters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Support the Red Cross by visiting redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.