Marshall Fire Community Updates Websites showing debris removal progress - This county-wide map shows the current progress with the PPDR (Private Property Debris Removal) program that is paid for by FEMA and the county
- This Louisville-only map shows status of debris removal for both PPDR and privately contracted lots. This map will also show rebuild permit status as things progress
“Where do You Live?” Questionnaire Reminder for folks to answer four short questions indicating city and neighborhood of residence. Please complete the questionnaire here (it takes 2 minutes!) Notification system rolled out on 4/15 The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has integrated with the IPAWS Emergency Alert System Community Foundation event: Save the date - Monday, May 2nd at 6:30 PM at the Louisville Recreation Center. The Community Foundation will be updating on plans for distributing funds from the Boulder County Wildfire fund to assist with rebuilding. There will also be a remote join option for those who cannot join in person. Thanks to a generous donation from Ascent Community Church, ECHO is offering a free legal clinic for survivors of the Marshall Fire who require assistance with landlord-tenant relations, housing, insurance, or deceptive trade practices. |
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Rebuilding and Property Care |
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The county has launched a new website with lots of good information on the rebuild process, with special focus on rebuilding in ways that are more energy-efficient and more fire-resistant. Incentives for energy-efficiency Several sources for details on the rebates and other incentive programs related to energy-efficiency: Results from testing conducted by Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) in areas affected by the Marshall fire show the levels of metals and asbestos in the soil do not pose a significant health risk and are, in most cases, consistent with surrounding areas that were not impacted by the fire. This wildfire affected trees in residential landscapes in a variety of ways. Some were completely or partially consumed, scorched and dried out, while some were merely singed. Many trees can recover after fire, depending on the intensity and duration of the burn and extent of dehydration. After a fire it is important to determine which trees might recuperate and which will need to be removed. It may be a bit early for many folks to be thinking about replacing the trees on your property, but for those whose homes are still standing or who like to plan ahead, this site may help. This guide from the CCU Extension service rates trees according to how well they tend to do in this part of the country. Start dreaming about what your new, inviting, green, shady yard of the future might look like! Remember that every year of growth makes a big difference in getting trees established, so if it is possible to get new trees in this year, they will really benefit. Those rebuilding would need to make sure that you have a way to get water to the tree(s) between the time you plant them and the time your home has a working spigot or irrigation system. You’d also want to talk with your builder to make sure they are comfortable working within your lot without damaging the new tree(s) -- so this likely won’t be an option for some smaller lots. Note that the recommended tree list does not seem to take wildfire risk into account, so that may also be a factor in what trees you get (and in where you place them relative to your house). Landscape questions and answers Last week we mentioned the excellent Landscape Recovery Webinar, which is still available to watch here. Those folks have now also released their answers to the many questions they were not able to get to during the session. These additional Q&As can be seen here. |
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Updates from Louisville City Planning and Building Dept There will be more city staff out on the streets during the debris removal process. Some cleanup crews have been seen to be kicking up a lot of dust and not putting down enough water. City will issue Stop Work orders for these situations, which they find generally gets the problem addressed very quickly. The City will also be doing regular drive-through video recording in order to quickly identify any damage caused to sidewalks, streets, or city property. This will allow them to better ensure that the responsible party pays for necessary repairs. During the rebuild, the city plans to deploy commercial portolets in the various neighborhoods so that this won't be the responsibility of each builder (and we won’t end up having one of these sitting on every property!) To accommodate all the expected builder traffic and equipment, the city will be maintaining a marked corridor down the middle of each neighborhood street, with space on each side set aside for builder equipment and vehicles. Note that dirt cannot be stored anywhere on the street, even temporarily, because our streets drain out to the storm sewers, and then into waterways. Dirt piles on the street would therefore be in violation of EPA rules. Builders will also not be allowed to store dirt on open space land. When working on foundations, builders will most times be able to temporarily store dirt elsewhere on the lot or on the lot of a cooperative neighbor. If this is not feasible, builders would have to truck the dirt out and then bring it back later; however, the city (which has much experience with this situation in the older parts of town) tells us that builders are generally able to find creative ways to work within the space on the lot. |
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Marshall Together (MT) is a grassroots, volunteer-led organization that is working to help all displaced fire survivors and affected communities recover from the Marshall Fire so that everyone can get home. We work together across the entire burn area to crowdsource solutions via our network of neighborhood liaisons and connections to government and non-profit partners. MT seeks to be a platform that fire survivors can use to express their needs and have their voices heard. We are here for the community, please feel free to leverage our network to solve whatever problems you are facing. We are all in this together. At present, the board of MT includes Reina Pomeroy, John Marlin, Tawnya Somauroo, Tim Crean, Mark Wiranowski, Chris Fuller, Ellen Berry, Kelly Watt, and Meryl Suissa. There are now 49 neighborhood liaisons that are meeting regularly, in addition to other volunteers that are helping with various projects. Together, that is 58+ volunteers working together to push our recovery forward. At the moment, the vast majority of those volunteers are all still personally displaced and managing insurance claims/rebuild projects while putting in extra hours for their communities. As we move through the recovery, there will be many opportunities for contributions. If you identify a community need that you would like to address, or would like to join an effort that others are already working on, please engage with us. We are here for everyone, until we all get home. |
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Having trouble joining our Slack community? If you're a Fire survivor, please hit reply to this email with your fire impacted home address and we'll invite you to join. |
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