Three years after Marshall Fire, Superior continues rebuilding, many Coloradans still hoping to return home
December marked the third anniversary of the Marshall Fire that impacted thousands in Boulder County. Colorado communities in places like Superior are still working to rebuild, as some are able to move back home.
Jay Carroll and Brie Rogers are grateful to be back in their Superior home. The pair were some of the first people to return to the old town neighborhood-- still rebuilding after close to 200 homes were lost.
"Feeling lucky that we're in this position to be able to rebuild, a lot of our neighbors, unfortunately, were not in the same position. So we think about that often," Rogers said.
But when a neighbor does return, they can bring a sense of normalcy with them. Rogers added, "Our neighbor Diane, in this yellow house right here. It's great to have her back. So it's definitely nice to, you know, see some familiar faces."
Neighbor reunions are something Superior Mayor Mark Lacis wants to keep seeing more of, with the town now 70% rebuilt.
"We're making real progress. We've got another 10% of people that are permitted and underway, and hopefully by this time next year, we'll be somewhere in the 80% of the recovery," Lacis said.
Acknowledging that progress, the town's Cultural Arts Committee commissioned local artist AJ Davis to paint the mural Resilience in Bloom.
"One of the things that they are really committed to is the role of art in healing trauma from the fire," Lacis said, "A testament and honors the fire survivors and kind of emphasizes how this entire community is recovering and rebuilding, regrowing from the recovery of the disaster."
But with scars of the fire still nearby, Lacis knows there's still more work to do. "We'd love to be at 100% but we're just making the progress that we can," Lacis said, "We want to make sure that we're equipped to not be as susceptible to a fire in the future."
Carrol acknowledged the great need, while devastating, may have helped bring in larger support.
"People were able to band together (and) got more attention, whether it was from like, fundraising events," Carroll said, "Everything that the county did and the city, the town of Superior did, was so important."
Lacis also said the Cultural Arts Committee is continuing to look at other ways they can honor survivors and acknowledge the efforts of first responders throughout the town.
