As of Sunday evening, two people remained missing in the wake of the Marshall Fire — which has now been 74% contained — according to Boulder County officials.
The incident management team gave no update on the search for the two remaining missing people, though earlier on Sunday, Boulder County officials confirmed one of three people originally reported missing in the Marshall Fire was found safe. The sheriff said at a Sunday briefing they are still searching for the two others and investigating the cause of the fire, while declining to confirm whether the fire was human-caused.
“It’s an open ongoing investigation with the very best people we can find and federal partners,” Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said.
The FBI is involved with the investigation into the cause of the fire, he said.
A video of a shed on fire in the area of Marshall Road and Colo. 93 — where the fire originated — was posted online, Pelle said. It is still unclear whether the shed or whether anything around it started the Marshall Fire.
“We will sort it out,” he said. “There is so much at stake. We’re going to be careful, we’re going to be professional, we’re going to bring in the best people.”
During an earlier briefing on Sunday, Pelle said one man had been found and two others were still missing. He added that first responders and cadaver dogs had been looking for them, one of whom is a woman from Superior and the other is a man from the Marshall area of unincorporated Boulder County.
“It’s a very difficult search because of the debris and heat, so we are trying to use dogs but it’s even difficult to get the dogs into the scene because of the heat and the debris,” he said.
Each of the missing persons’ homes was lost to Thursday’s wind-driven wildfire.
In Louisville, no changes were made to the evacuation status in and around the burn area. However, several homes in Superior re-opened Sunday afternoon, including the Lanterns at Rock Creek neighborhood, South 68th Street neighborhoods and the Spanish Hills neighborhood. Another reentry update was given in an email by the town of Superior about 6 p.m., indicating that the Creekside, Circle Park, The Ridge, and South 68th south to Davidson Ditch areas have also been opened to residents. Residents can continue to check the Boulder Office of Emergency Management’s website at boulderoem.com for a full reentry list.
In order to reenter an area, residents must provide identification with proof of address because officials want to make sure only residents are entering these vulnerable areas at this time.
In the email, Superior officials urged residents attempting to reenter to be patient because lines were expected to be long at checkpoints. Areas not listed are closed to members of the public, with only first responders, members of the incident management team and other recovery personnel allowed access.
Also at the media briefing was Colorado President of Xcel Energy Alice Jackson. Jackson addressed the current power outages within the burn zone in Superior and Louisville, as well as a power outage that affected 600 customers within the Boulder area. Jackson predicted that customers within the Boulder area, who were largely located in mountainous areas where rugged terrain and snow had limited crews’ access for repairs, would be back with power by Tuesday evening.
As for homes within the burn area, a definite prediction for power restoration was a bit convoluted. Jackson said because some areas were burned more severely than others, certain areas will receive restoration of power earlier than other areas. To better tackle the repair and restoration work, the burn zone was divided into nine regions, with work progressing in each region. A map of the regions is available bit.ly/3JMOe7t.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also spoke at the earlier media briefing, which followed a tour of the burn sites with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and other Colorado lawmakers.
During the tour, they saw foundations of what were homes just days ago. Now they are charred and vehicles have melted into burnt shells, Polis said.
“Obviously now (it’s) all covered with snow; it’s somewhat surreal,” he said. “We were even a few places where there’s still smoldering debris and smoke and partially covered by snow. It’s really an odd and disturbing juxtaposition.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering $200,000 loans for the thousands of residents in Superior and Louisville with property damage, Polis said. The is an interest rate of 1.43% for 30 years. The administration is also offering $40,000 loans for people who lost property in their homes that was not insured.
People can apply for loans or find more information at https://www.iii.org/.
“It’s a long road ahead,” Polis said. “We build back from other disasters like the 2013 flood, and we will build back stronger from this one because we are Colorado strong.”
He noted Colorado’s housing shortage and high cost-of-living will create issues for some people hoping to stay close to Boulder County. Many people will need to rent in cities such as Thornton, Denver and Aurora until homes can be rebuilt. He said his office has met with Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett, who has offered housing in the city in an effort to keep people with young children in school close to the area.
“It’s going to be challenging,” Polis said. “There’ll be some families that are able to live at some distance away for some period of time, but there’s others that want that sense of normalcy for them and their kids.”
President Joe Biden on Saturday morning approved Polis’ request to declare the scene as a major disaster. Boulder County residents are now eligible for money from FEMA to cover temporary housing, home repairs and uninsured property losses.
Criswell, during the Sunday briefing, said the agency has about 100 personnel assigned to help people displaced by the fire and will continue to expand its workforce.
“We know that housing is the critical need right now as well as debris removal, and we’re bringing our federal teams together to work side-by-side with the state, the county and the city officials that have been impacted to develop what that housing strategy is going to be (for) both the immediate needs to put people into safe places, as well as what the long-term housing needs might be,” she said.
Criswell said FEMA has programs that provide financial help with temporary housing expenses, basic home repairs and other essential disaster-related needs. FEMA may also make referrals to other local, state, federal and voluntary assistance programs. An induvial may be eligible for up to $37,900 through FEMA for uninsured repairs.
“RVs are one of the tools in our toolbox, but we need to determine what the right tools are going to be for those communities,” Criswell said.
People should first contact their insurance providers regarding the damage to their home before going through FEMA for aid, she said.
“Every individual is going to have a different and unique need, and so we really need to make sure that for the long-term strategy, we take the time to understand what those needs are but work on the short-term strategy of giving everybody some temporary place to stay,” she said.
The first step for those who are insured is contacting the insurance company and filing a claim for the disaster-caused damage. Be sure to take photographs or videos of the damage and to keep all receipts for repair work, the news release states.
FEMA application assistance will be available starting Monday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at the Boulder County Disaster Assistance Center at 1755 S. Public Road in Lafayette.
Those with uninsured or underinsured losses should apply for assistance with FEMA by visiting DisasterAssistance.Gov; calling 1-800-621-3362; or downloading the FEMA app.
The state has professional counselors available to speak with anyone affected by the fires. Counselors can be reached at 844-493-8255 or through text message by texting “talk” to 38255. Other mental health services are available at I Matter Colorado, Mental Health Partners, and The Disaster Distress Hotline at 1-800-985-5990.
