BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — As Boulder County residents continue picking up the pieces after the Marshall Fire, various resources and community updates are constantly changing around them.
READ MORE: Resources for victims, ways to help, where to donate | Stories from the Marshall Fire | Boulder County fire information
The 6,026-acre fire burned more than 1,000 structures on Dec. 30. It is fully contained.
To help sort through the dozens of daily updates, below is a list of what is happening today. This includes limited resources available right now, updates coming today, and what to expect throughout the day. We bolded today's focuses so you can quickly skim for what you need now.
Here is what you need to know today about the Marshall Fire, where you can get help, and more.
Sunday, Jan. 9
Boulder County legislatures and Colorado leaders held a virtual town hall on Sunday to discuss resources available to Marshall Fire victims. You can watch the meeting in the video player below:
Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse joined Boulder County legislators Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, Senators Tammy Story and Sonya Jaquez-Lewis, as well as Representatives Judy Amabile, Tracey Bernett, Matt Gray, and Karen McCormick to discuss the recent fires in Boulder County.
Saturday, Jan. 8
FEMA is warning victims of the Marshall Fire to be on alert for scammers. Thieves and con artists will often try to take advantage of victims after a disaster, according to FEMA. They are advising residents to watch out for identity theft, fake housing inspector contacts and bogus assistance programs.
They provided the following tips for Marshall Fire victims:
- Don’t believe anyone who promises a disaster grant in return for payment. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams, housing inspectors, and other officials are working in areas impacted by the Marshall Fire. They carry official identification badges with photo IDs. FEMA and U.S. Small Business Administration representatives never charge applicants for disaster assistance, inspections, or help in filling out applications.
- Be alert when receiving unexpected phone calls or visits to your property from people claiming to be FEMA housing inspectors or people claiming they work for FEMA. FEMA representatives will have a photo-ID badge and your FEMA application number, and you should ask them to provide these.
- Don’t give your banking information to a person claiming to be a FEMA housing inspector. FEMA inspectors are never authorized to collect your personal financial information.
If you believe you are the victim of a scam, report it immediately to local law enforcement or contact the Colorado Division of Insurance Consumer Services Team at (303) 804-7490 / (800) 930-3745, To file a fraud complaint, go online to DORA.Insurance@state.co.us.
If you suspect fraudulent activity involving FEMA, you can report it to the FEMA Fraud Branch at StopFEMAFraud@fema.dhs.gov, by fax: (202) 212-4926, or write to: FEMA Fraud and Internal Investigation Division, 400 C Street SW Mail Stop 3005, Washington, DC 20472-3005.
If you suspect identity theft, please visit Identity Theft | FTC Consumer Information or IdentityTheft.gov.
Friday, Jan. 7
The Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team is beginning to transition management of the incident back to local authorities, with full transition planned for tonight. Fire crews are continuing to address remaining hot spots around impacted structures in the fire area. Utility companies have been successful in restoring service to most areas.
Today, Congressman Joe Neguse and Gov. Jared Polis will host President Joe Biden in Boulder County to tour the damage from the Marshall Fire and discuss federal support. Click here to read more about the visit.
Boulder County Public Health is strongly recommending residents not attempt to remove debris or clean up properties that have been damaged or destroyed in the, regardless of personal protective equipment. Instead, residents should use the help of a professional contractor.
Boulder County has partnered with the Boulder Area Rental Housing Association to help ensure residents displaced by the Marshall Fire have access to a list of comprehensive housing resources to facilitate the process of finding a new place to live. The list will be updated frequently with available properties and resources in the region.
Ball Corporation announced Friday it will donate $1 million and deploy additional disaster relief efforts to support communities impacted by the wildfires.
Colorado-based Christy Sports is partnering with the Community Foundation of Boulder County to donate 5% of all online retail sales for the month of January to help support families, friends and colleagues impacted by the Boulder County wildfires. The company will also match the total amount raised online through its Give Back program in January.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency and the Boulder County and Colorado State University Extension Offices to answer questions about programs available for agriculture producers affected by the fire in a virtual town hall Jan. 11 at 1:30 p.m. Register here.
The Louisville Rec and Senior Center, located at 900 Via Appia Way, will host food trucks to provide complimentary food and drinks this week and throughout the month to those affected by the fires, first responders, and city staff. Click here for a schedule (login required).
The Boulder County Disaster Assistance Center, located at 1755 S. Public Road in Lafayette, is open today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Officials here can help you with property loss, housing, food assistance, vital records, mental health, COVID-19 tests, transportation and more. Assistance is available in English and Spanish. If you were impacted by the fire and need information, call the Boulder County Public Call Center at 303-413-7730. Community members who have disabilities and need additional support can call or text 1-800-626-4959.
Below is the most updated map showing hard closures (no public access), soft closures (only access for residents), and open areas.
The investigation into the fire is ongoing. Two people remain missing. The Boulder County Wildfire Fund is the primary fund being used to gather money for victims of the Marshall Fire, but Denver7 Gives is also raising money for the victims. Click here to read the full story.
Want to add something to this list? Email it to newstips@thedenverchannel.com.
Previous daily updates:
Thursday, Jan. 6
The Marshall Fire destroyed 1,084 homes and damaged another 149 to the tune of an estimated $513 million, Boulder County officials said Thursday afternoon as they released new damage estimates. Seven businesses were destroyed and another 30 were damaged, though cost estimates for them are not complete. The county also released an interactive map where people can search for properties within the fire perimeter that were damaged.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rescinded boil advisories as of approximately 6:15 p.m. for the Town of Superior, the City of Louisville and Sans Souci. The boil water advisories for Eldorado Artesian Spring and East Boulder County Water District were previously rescinded. CDPHE recommends returning residents and business owners run several cold water taps for five minutes to adequately flush their drinking water pipes. Other tips on restarting equipment after a boil water advisory can be found here.
Just before 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Comcast announced that as of 8 a.m. today, service had been restored to more than 12,000 residential customers, or about 93% of those who lost power. This is up 500 customers from yesterday. They also announced they had restored service to about 599 business customers out of about 660 who lost service.
If you picked up a check at the Disaster Assistance Center, you can cash it immediately at the BOK Finical 2025 Pearl Street in Boulder, even if you use another bank.
Boulder County says it is currently working closely with the state, FEMA, and impacted municipalities to create a coordinated a debris removal program for homes that have been destroyed or damaged by the Marshall Fire. Details are still being finalized and will be released soon. If you choose to do cleanup on your own, you would ineligible for this program. Impacted community members who would like to register for the county debris clean-up program should register at the Disaster Assistance Center.
In an update with the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team, Pat Seekins, operation section chief, said the fire area got between 5 and 8 inches of new snow. Safety Officer Todd Legler said first responders are staged at strategic locations in case any 911 calls come in today. He said he saw a lot of congestion in the subdivisions Wednesday and people moving back into the area, as well as contractors and insurance companies. He stressed drivers to use caution as the roads are congested.
The City of Thornton is taking part in the Marshall Fire Gift Card Drive. Cards can be any amount and from any business — like grocery stores, clothing stores and restaurants. They can be dropped off at Trail Winds and Carpenter Rec centers, the Thornton Community Center and City Hall.
The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance is opening a business Recovery Center at the Lafayette Disaster Assistance Center today at 9 a.m. to help business owners impacted by the fire.
You can join Boulder County Office of Emergency Management today in a virtual community meeting from 6-8 p.m. The Disaster Assistance Center, FEMA, Public Health and more will be on the call to answer questions. Click here to register to attend. This is for impacted residents only.
Today, the City of Louisville will host host virtual neighborhood listening sessions for areas that were impacted by the fire. An online link and dial-in information will be shared via email at 10 a.m. and posted on the city's website here. The sessions are broken up by neighborhood, do not need registration, and will last one hour:
- 11 a.m. – Enclave/Hillside area
- 1 p.m. – Mulberry area
- 2:30 p.m. – Cornerstone/Centennial 4 area
- 4 p.m. – St. Andrews (Coal Creek Ranch) area
A joint Boulder County meeting for fire impacted residents will also be held from 6 to 8 p.m. More details are available here.
Bottled water is available for pickup from 8 a.m. to. 8 p.m. today at the Superior Community Center. The center now has a 500-gallon tank of potable water for residents to fill up containers beginning at 9 a.m. Bottled and bulk water distribution is also available at the Louisville Recreation & Senior Center (not the library anymore). It's available daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until service is restored. Both Superior and Louisville remain under boil water advisories, though the Town of Superior said it hopes to lift theirs on Friday.
The daily 2 p.m. fire briefing is canceled for today.
Wednesday, Jan. 5
The City of Louisville lifted the evacuation order at 12 p.m. Wednesday. The entire city will be open to residents, including hard closure areas, which will only be open between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. due to safety concerns. Details on reentry can be found here.
Boulder County officials said Wednesday afternoon investigators had found partial remains of an adult in a home in the 5900 block of Marshall Road – likely the remains of one of two people still missing after the Marshall Fire last week in Boulder County. The coroner’s office will identify the person and determine their cause and manner of death.
Boulder County Public Health is strongly discouraging residents from sorting through ash and debris because the materials contain cancer-causing chemicals and toxic substances. Sifting through the material can cause ultra-fine particles to go deep into the lungs where they can enter the bloodstream and damage organs. Even with PPE, like N95 masks, these dangerous particles can reach lungs. Fire professionals recommend only salvaging items that can be removed without sifting through ashes.
The City is hosting virtual neighborhood listening sessions for areas that were impacted by the fire Thursday. A joint Boulder County meeting for fire impacted residents will also be held from 6 to 8 p.m. More details are available here.
The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance is opening a business Recovery Center at the Lafayette Disaster Assistance Center Thursday at 9 a.m. to help business owners impacted by the fire.
The Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team is beginning to transition management of the incident back to local authorities, with full transition planned for Friday evening. The fire remains 100% contained at 6,026 acres and fire crews are continuing to address remaining hot spots around impacted structures in the fire area. Utility companies have been successful in restoring service to most areas.
Boulder County Office of Emergency Management today invited all residents impacted by the fires to join a virtual community meeting Thursday from 6-8 p.m. The Disaster Assistance Center, FEMA, Public Health and more will be on the call to answer questions. Click here to register to attend. This is for impacted residents only.
In a mid-morning press conference, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, along with Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and members of the Executive Cabinet, explained the various ways the federal government is helping and prepared to do more, plus how affected residents should start to work with their insurance companies. Insurance Commissioner Mike Conway noted four important points: First, start filing a claim as soon as possible. Second, state law requires your insurance company to offer a payment of 30% of coverage of contents in your home. Third, documenting everything you're doing in your recovery, including things as big as making repairs to as small as buying toothpaste. And fourth, contact DORA with any questions: 303-894-7490 or dora_insurance@state.co.us.
Just before 10 a.m., Congressman Joe Neguse announced that he, along with Gov. Polis, will host President Joe Biden in Boulder County on Friday to tour the damage from the Marshall Fire and discuss federal support. Click here to read more about the visit.
At 6 a.m., fire officials said all hard and soft closures have been lifted in Superior and unincorporated Boulder County with the exception of S. 76th Street (which remains closed between Marshall Road and Sycamore Street). Although these closures were lifted, the areas are open for residents only and will be patrolled. As of now, there are no changes to evacuation status in Louisville.
Victim advocates are available today from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Town of Superior Community Center, located at 1500 Coalton Road.
Boulder Valley School District's schools will resume classes today. A spokesman form BVSD said this will help families by allowing students to return to a familiar and supportive environment, though some parents think the return to class was rushed.
Starting today, Waste Connections in the Town of Superior is back to its regular service in Rock Creek. There will be a special pick up on Jan. 8 for anyone who missed their day for any reason.
Today's daily 2 p.m. fire briefing was canceled.
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Louisville City Council unanimously approved to continue adeclaration of local disaster emergency during their meeting Tuesday evening. The mayor initially issued an emergency declaration the day of the Marshall Fire, but city council had to approve to continue the declaration. A disaster declaration allows for the “activation of the response and recovery aspects of any and all applicable local and inter-jurisdictional disaster emergency plans” as well as further authorizes additional access to aid and assistance. The Louisville police chief also expressed concern with how long the evacuation took during the fire. He said there will be an after-action evaluation to determine how they can do better in the future.
The University of Colorado Athletic Department said it will collect gift cards for Marshall Fire victims at four of their upcoming basketball games. Fans can bring gift cards for places like local grocery stores, department stores and restaurants with the denomination visible on the card. The cards will be accepted at all entrances at the games, and they will be given to distribution centers identified by the Boulder Office of Emergency Management. The donation cards will be accepted at the men’s basketball games scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 6 and 3 p.m. on Jan. 9, and they’ll be accepted at the women’s games scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 11 a.m. on Jan. 9. Beginning Wednesday, $5 of every ticket sold to men’s and women’s basketball games the rest of the season will be donated to emergency relief efforts.
Around 11 p.m., fire officials announced additional reopenings near U.S. Highway 36 and reminded residents to prepare for the impacts of freezing temperatures. Many areas north of Highway 36 have reopened to residents, though some areas remain under a hard closure, which means only emergency personnel are allowed to access the areas. With freezing temperatures and snow in the forecast, officials are reminding residents who have been cleared to return home to take steps to keep their pipes from freezing. Officials say residents may want to consider turning off the main water line to their homes and draining house water lines to prevent broken pipes that could lead to flooding.
On Tuesday just before 11 p.m., The Boulder County Sheriff's Office says it will not release information regarding the investigation into the origin of the Marshall Fire. In a statement, the sheriff's office said it was denying the release of records, like body camera footage, because it says the disclosure of information and records could hinder or interfere with the investigation.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is sending a mobile air monitoring van to the wildfire burn areas to measure air quality this week. A driver will take the mobile air monitoring van through the burn areas on Thursday, and data should be available the same day. Boulder County Public Health also hopes to station particulate monitors on Wednesday, and that data should be available Thursday. Until more data is collected, health officials say it should be assumed the air quality is poor in the burn areas and immediately downwind.
Stephanie Tinsley is organizing an effort to help victims of the Marshall Fire recover lost valuables. She has organized a team called the Sifter Squad to build and distribute sifters to residents of Louisville and Superior impacted by the blaze. Her Facebook group has already gained 500 members in five days. Her organization has built more than 100 sifters for victims of the fire. She is also putting together protective equipment to pass out. Read more here.
Molson Coors Beverage Company is donating $25,000 and 100,000 cans of water to help victims of the Boulder County wildfires. The water cans will be shipped from the Molson Coors Shenandoah brewery in Elkton, Virginia., to the Coors Distributing Company in Denver, with transportation being donated by Molo and C.H. Robinson. The $25,000 will go towards the Boulder County Wildfire Fund.
The Boulder County Wildfire Fund has already received more than $12 million in donations from more than 43,000 people, and another $14.6 million has been raised through GoFundMe as of Tuesday afternoon for victims of the Marshall Fire. The Community Foundation Boulder County said the $12 million figure was as of this morning. Additionally, the Boulder County fund will send up to $500,000 immediately to people forced to evacuate their homes. All the funds from the Boulder County Wildfire Fund are being disbursed at the Disaster Assistance Center in Lafayette.
The Boulder County Wildfire Fund is the primary fund being used to gather money for victims of the Marshall Fire, but Denver7 Gives is also raising money for the victims, and several GoFundMe fundraisers have raised $14.6 million as of Tuesday by more than 110,000 donors, the company said. Click here to read the full story.
As of Wednesday evening over 2,700 generous donors have contributed to raise over $420,000 to the Denver7 Gives Wildfire Fund. You can click this link to donate to the fund.
Local News
Help your Boulder County Neighbors | Donate to Denver7 Gives Wildfire Fund
In the daily 2 p.m. fire update Tuesday, the Community Foundation Boulder County (CFBC) said it has made available $5 million in funding to help those affected by the Marshall Fire. The CFBC board approved the $5 million grant for immediate distribution to those whose homes were destroyed or damaged and require financial assistance. You can watch the press conference below:
The Colorado Division of Insurance will hold a virtual town hall today from 5:30-7 p.m. Click here to register. After registering, you'll receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting. You can ask questions at the end of the presentation. If you have questions, you can call 303-894-7490 or 800-930-3745.
While the YMCA Lafayette, located at 2800 Dagny Way, was expecting to issue space heaters from 8 a.m. through 6 p.m., they announced all the heaters had been picked up within an hour. We will update this if they're able to restock.
Xcel Energy said Tuesday at 1:06 p.m. that it had restored service to more than 10,000 customers — almost all of its customers that lost the service in the fire. As of this morning, more than 10,000 customers have their appliances' pilot lights re-lit. For the remaining customers, some of which are under evacuation orders, crews are working directly with them to arrange to relight the pilot lights on their natural gas appliances once evacuation orders are lifted. If you haven't had your appliances relit and you can return to your home, call 1-800-895-2999.
Comcast says it has restored service to nearly 11,000 of the 13,000 customers, and and 530 of the 660 businesses, that lost service, as of 8 a.m. today. That is about 85% of customers impacted by the fires. Many of the remaining homes and businesses without service were lost to the fire. Comcast is continuing to work on assessing damage and restoring its network in Superior and Louisville. If you lost your home or business, call 1-800-934-6489 and press 1 so an agent can help you disconnect, pause service or retain use without recurring charges.
On Tuesday, the foothills, Front Range and eastern plains will stay under a High Wind Warning, though the risk of fire remains low thanks to recent snow. The National Weather Service out of Boulder said it would have issued fire-related weather alerts on Tuesday if it hadn't just snowed, but many of the areas expecting high wind are still covered in snow. The NWS noted that fire danger is elevated on the eastern plains where less snow fell on Friday. Click here for more details on the wind warning today.
Because of these high winds, Boulder County Safety Officer Todd Legler said structures that were heavily damaged but still standing may easily collapse. This includes remaining chimneys, he said.
With snow on the way and damages from the Marshall and Middle Fork fires, the City of Boulder is recommending residents assess their private trees for damage. The hurricane-force winds that drove the wildfires last week resulted in damage to both public and private trees. Between the snow on Dec. 31 and the upcoming snowfall, city officials say it can cause an already weak or damaged tree to come down. City staff are assessing damage to public trees, and recommend residents do the same for privately owned trees. The city says the amount of damage within city limits does not warrant a city-funded debris clean-up. The city will not pick up downed branches from private trees. Click here for details.
If you parked at RTD's US 36 McCaslin Park-n-Ride parking lot on Thursday and have been unable to go back to get your car, you can now return to retrieve your vehicle. RTD is asking that you enter the area from the corner of McCaslin Boulevard and Marshall Road. parking is allowed in the immediate area. Bring your driver's license with your or another form of ID to show National Guard troops.
