Ash to Snow: Reflections on The Marshall Fire

View from my front yard on night of December 30, 2021

December 30, 2021, started like a typical winter day in Boulder County, Colorado. It was dry and windy, which wasn't unusual for that winter, although the wind was stronger than I had ever experienced at home. Around 11 a.m., my family noticed smoke rising from the hay fields southwest of our property. At that point, there wasn't much information available. No one in our neighborhood had received emergency alerts, and most of what we knew came from neighbors calling and texting each other as the fire grew.

Between noon and 1 p.m., what started as a moderate concern turned into a full evacuation. Smoke was quickly engulfing the neighborhood and ash and debris were blowing through the air. When things became extremely alarming was when we watched as the fire jumped Highway 36 and ignited the dry fields leading toward our neighborhood and the town of Superior. Once my family had loaded our livestock and were leaving, neighbors’ houses were on fire and half the neighborhood was deep in a thick cloud of smoke. By early afternoon, most of our neighborhood had evacuated and everyone was paying close attention to the local news circuits to find out the damage. Later that evening, we learned that our house had been fully destroyed along with more than a thousand others. The irony of the event was that the next day it finally snowed.

What made this fire different from the wildfires that occur annually in Colorado was that it started in town and in a specific region that was new to this type of event especially in the winter. The year of 2021 had a large amount of precipitation in the spring and summer causing large growth in vegetation. The winter, though, was drier than normal leaving an abundance of dried out vegetation waiting to ignite. 

What has stood out to me most over the last few years isn't only the fire itself, but everything that came after it. The recovery process has almost been as hard on people as the fire itself. Rebuilding a community involves much more than replacing houses. It depends on emergency planning, local governments, insurance companies, building regulations and permits, contractors, volunteers, and neighbors. It also takes years. Five years later, many, including my family, have still not finished rebuilding. 

My family's car

Before the Marshall Fire, I probably would have viewed a wildfire as a single event that most communities would be prepared for and expect more of in the forest. Looking back now, I recognize that the fire was just the start. Recovery became a community-wide effort that involved thousands of people working together. Local governments coordinating rebuilding efforts and creating new regulations, volunteers organizing donation drives, insurance companies engaging, lawsuits settling, community organizations stepping in to help families with more immediate needs. It showed me how many different pieces have to come together after a disaster, many of which most people never think about.

What was striking was how many people stepped up to help, both during and after the fire. While firefighters were working across the area, some neighbors were doing what they could to help salvage homes. My dad and several of our neighbors stayed behind putting out smaller fires caused by debris and embers that had been blown around. After the fire, that same sense of community continued. Friends opened their homes to families who had evacuated, volunteers collected donations, businesses provided supplies, and local restaurants were offering free meals.

A close friend and neighbor watching his house burn

Looking back, I see the Marshall Fire as more than a single day or a single event. It demonstrated how quickly conditions can change and how many different systems have to work together during and after a disaster. No one expected a fast-moving wildfire in the middle of winter and town, but it showed the importance of emergency planning, communication, and communities that are prepared to respond when conditions change rapidly. For Colorado and much of the western United States, where wildfires have become a recurring challenge each year, these conversations are becoming increasingly more relevant.

While every fire is different, the Marshall Fire is a good example of why investing in preparation, resilient infrastructure, and effective emergency response before a disaster occurs is just as important, if not more important than the response itself.

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Alexa McMynn is is an undergraduate student at Colorado Mesa University majoring in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology. She grew up on a small ranch in Colorado, which inspired her love for animals and the outdoors.