![]() ![]() The nonprofit, started in the wake of the fire, has logged about 47,000 volunteer hours since 2013 to recover, rebuild and restore the lives of those affected by the fire. "The more community drive and collectivism, the better they'll recover." "A community that has experienced disaster and has gone through recovery needs to be their own advocate because no one will care as much for that community as the people living there," said Planning Coordinator Nancy Trosper. But, with a potentially catastrophic wildfire season on the horizon in El Paso County, has Black Forest moved far enough to avert another tragedy?īlack Forest Together spends little time dwelling on predictions, preferring action, instead. Many others have moved forward alongside Burke, with residents rebuilding nearly 300 homes. ![]() "If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind," she said. It may not be the haven of ponderosa pines that drew her to Black Forest 44 years ago, but it's something. Her land is now a patchwork of plants: 10-foot high chokecherry trees, lilac trees that stand just above your knee and infant evergreens. Since 2014, she has planted more than 200 trees on her 11-acre lot in addition to extensive mitigation work. What she could replace were the torched trees. "These things are history, and you can't replace history'" Burke said last week, dabbing tears from her eyes with a tissue. ![]() The hearth and the words it bore melted in the heat of the firestorm. So did many of her oil paintings and albums of family photos. It was the most destructive fire in Colorado history, surpassing the Waldo Canyon fire just a year earlier.īurke's home and the ponderosas that once shielded it burned to ash. During the next nine days, the fire burned 14,280 acres, consumed 489 homes and killed two people. On June 11, 2013, a maelstrom of flames exploded on Shoup Road and Colorado 83 in Black Forest. ![]()
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