In a catastrophe, every survivor has a unique story. In the case of the December 30 Marshall Fire that tore through Superior and Louisville, Colorado, though, there is one distinct, common theme.
Almost no one saw it coming.
“I was looking out the window from a three-story building in Boulder,” recalled Adam Sloat, a real estate agent in Louisville, “and I could see what looked like a grass fire in Superior. You could see the smoke and it was making me a little nervous because it kept getting bigger.
“We weren’t thinking we were in any danger, because we’re not in the mountains and it’s not something that’s talked about when you’re in Louisville or Superior,” said Sloat, owner of a home in Coal Creek Ranch in Louisville.
Sloat and his family escaped the smoke and retreated to his father’s home in Boulder, ahead of a forced evacuation.
“We went to sleep wondering, and not knowing if the fire jumped across the street to our house,” said Sloat.
The next morning, the news came that Sloat’s home was one of approximately 500 homes destroyed by the wildfire. Sloat and his family immediately worked on finding a rental home, quickly shopping for clothes and furniture. By the end of the weekend, Sloat was one of many still unable to inspect the remains of his property.
“Obviously there have been tears,” says Sloat, who with his wife Dani have two nine-year-old children. “But you try to keep things positive as a family, and you start finding a new way to adapt. It’s there, underneath the surface, and one could spend two days mourning and in shock and anger, but we couldn’t afford to do that. We had to get things going fast.”
By the day after the wildfires, the Boulder County Center for Judaism counted 30 households in the Jewish community affected by the Marshall Fire. By now, no doubt, the volume of reported families has grown.
“This has been traumatic for the community,” says Chany Scheiner, who with husband, Rabbi Pesach Scheiner, runs the center and helped orchestrate immediate food deliveries to those in need.
“People have reached out from all over to see what they can do to help. When the dust settles and when the snow melts, we’ll see what’s needed.”
High above McCaslin Rd. at the Oerman Roche Trailhead, overlooking the Sagamore subdivision in Superior, the smell of charred remains was palpable deep into the weekend. An entire neighborhood, still covered in a foot of snow, was indistinguishable. Two residents appeared frozen in disbelief.
“We were at the grocery store,” says Randy Mansanarez, who with wife Diane were perched atop the trailhead, eyes fixated on what was. “They say it took four minutes for the fire to get from where it started, to engulf our neighborhood.
“We’re out on our own now,” says Mansanarez.
Across Highway 36 in Louisville, in a strange twist of irony, Dr. Richard Kroll didn’t see it coming, either.
Late Thursday morning, Dr. Kroll and his wife Susan, residents on the corner of Dylan Rd. and St. Andrews Ln., were actually five miles away, in Boulder. Their son has a home there, and got a remote alert in Florida that one of his utilities needed emergency attention.
The issue? A faulty furnace. While meeting with a technician and attending to the heating unit, the Krolls’ home in Louisville was burning to a crisp.
“We left our son’s house and I could smell the smoke,” says Dr. Kroll. “We had a fire alarm in our family room and got an alert. We thought maybe it was from the terrible winds that were just blowing smoke.
“By the time we arrived at our home,” Dr. Kroll continues, “all I saw was an enormous sheet of smoke. As soon as we got on the Denver-Boulder turnpike there was no visibility at all. I heard on the radio that the people in Louisville were advised to evacuate immediately, and then there was no way we could get back in.”
For the time being, Dr. and Mrs. Kroll are staying at their son’s home in Boulder. The heat there is working just fine, in stark comparison to the intense and still-smoldering heat five miles away.
“You know what the Israelis say about winning wars,” says Kroll. “There’s no choice. This is a big nuisance and a long process.” But at least we’re OK.”
Dr. Kroll pauses briefly to lament: “We lost everything, at least all the material things. One day, you have the usual material items that most people have in various domains of their possession. A few hours later, you don’t even have a pen.”
Of all the assistance the Kroll family — and the hundreds of other families —have received since the fire broke out, one particular bit of kindness resonated in the midst of unsettlement.
“One of the guys from Chabad house came by and dropped off tefilin and a tallis,” says Dr. Kroll. “It felt weird davening without it.”
[quote]JEWISHcolorado has opened a donation mailbox to ensure that contributions flow to those most impacted from the devastating Marshall Fire in Boulder and Jefferson counties. All contributions go to relief efforts, including those beyond the Jewish community.
JFS Boulder is providing emergency financial assistance and crisis counseling, on an individual or family basis.[/quote]
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