![]() There are burn scars littered throughout the neighborhood. “I’ll have to come back and dig them up another time.”įor Bonnie Gosler and her family, safety and security are their two top priorities as they readjust to life after the fire in a changing neighborhood. “Looks like the perennials we planted are coming back this year,” Thinnes says. He gets down on a knee and wipes away a few shards of ceramic pottery from a planter by his feet. Out back, all 11 trees he planted within the last few years are damaged beyond recognition. He unplugs a set of charred Christmas lights that were still wrapped around the tree in his front yard. ![]() It’s unseasonably warm for a Sunday in March, and sweat is starting to stain his green t-shirt. ![]() The hat is a loose fit, like it hasn’t been worn in a while. Thinnes takes off his work gloves and wipes his brow with the inside lip of his baseball cap. City officials say the fire caused more than $500 million in damages, though many families say they lost much more. Not only did it raze more than 1,000 homes, several local businesses, and claim the lives of two community members over New Year’s weekend, but it also exposed fissures in Colorado’s emergency notification system. The charred remains of homes aren’t the only part of the rebuilding process many Boulder County residents say they are concerned about. “You know, all this rebuilding stuff is going to take a while,” Thinnes told Yellow Scene Magazine in an interview, “but I think we’re going to make it out okay.” The upper middle-class neighborhood that once stood tall against the horizon now provides a perfect view of Centennial Highway and the outdoor hockey rink at the Louisville Recreation Center nearly a half mile away. Many of the homes that withstood the Marshall Fire have significant smoke damage and dumpsters full of drywall and insulation in their driveways. Advertisements for spring baseball camps are taped to light posts, and a steady stream of people are walking their dogs along the Powerline Trail past Fireside Elementary.īut the smell of charcoal is inescapable when the wind comes through just right. This isn’t the first time Thinnes has come back to reclaim what’s his after the Marshall Fire, and it won’t be the last.Īs the calendar turns to spring, signs of life are beginning to appear all around the idyllic Centennial Heights subdivision. Several of his neighbors have made similar piles of dinner plates, broken kettle grills, and pieces of furniture that are meant to live elsewhere. He’s tall with the slender frame of a hiker, one that bends under the weight of what he’s carrying up to the street. in Louisville, CO to collect pieces of a birdbath from his backyard. Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Yellow Scene Magazine and was shared via AP StoryShare.īarney Thinnes walks through what remains of his home on West Mulberry St.
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