Colorado family traumatized by arson attacks, fires continue throughout neighborhood in Fort Collins

A family that emigrated from Honduras in search of a better and safer life says they now feel traumatized after a repeat-arsonist targeted their home to start the new year. The family lives in the TimberVine neighborhood in northern Fort Collins, where they lost two vehicles and received damage to their home after an arsonist set fire to their property in the early hours of the morning.

One of the eight family members in the home spoke with CBS News Colorado after the fire, but only under anonymity. She said the family fears the arsonist, who police are searching for, will come back and attack the home again.

Speaking in Spanish, and translated for this report to English, she said she remembered waking up to the sound of explosions outside her home.

"And when the flames started spreading, that's when there was kind of an explosion," she said.

The mother of three ran throughout her house trying to wake up her children and loved ones in order to evacuate the home.

"Because I was really scared and very nervous, I called to my little girl. I touched her, 'Breanna! Breanna, get up!'" she recalled.

The family quickly gathered what they could and ran from the home. Outside they found two of their vehicles engulfed in flames. The fire burned more than two stories in the air, burning so hot that it melted the address numbers off of their home.

Fortunately, nobody was injured physically in the fire. However, the resident said her children are now traumatized by what they went through.

"Why? Why us?" she said. "I'm scared. Scared because I don't know who it is or if they're going to keep hurting my family or my kids."

She said her 7-year-old is now scared to sleep at night without shoes on, saying she wants to be ready to run out of the home in the case they are targeted again. Her son also refused to go to school, saying he was worried he might be attacked at school if the suspect is a classmate or someone he knows.

"(My young daughter) says when she closes her eyes (to sleep), she sees a clown that's laughing at her face. And, she sees fire around her," she said.

Fort Collins Police and the Larimer County Sheriff's Office are investigating the series of fires, the first of which began at the end of October 2023. Police said there were incidences of graffiti and small fires involving flags and patio furniture at the end of the fall. However, after 40 days without any reports, the fires have returned.

Since the new year, several families have awoken to find their patio flags and furniture on fire. And several people have lost their cars to fires.

The family featured in this report immigrated from Honduras. The home owner said she no longer feels safe in a home she bought as a way to get away from the violence and threats of her home country.

While police search for the suspect, or suspects, neighbors have created an online fundraiser for the family.

The victim said the vehicles they burned were worked hard for, and they were their resource to transportation to be able to work and provide for their loved ones.

"We're fighters. We came from the bottom, and we saved and saved so we could have that transportation," she said. "And now because of that person that we don't know, they've robbed our tranquility and our stability."

The fundraiser "Victims of the TimberCreek Arsonist" was coordinated by the woman's neighbor, Adrianna Nichole.

The community has already donated more than $5,000 so far to help the family get back on their feet.