https://ift.tt/wEcZxH day after fast-moving wildfires devastated two Colorado communities, some residents were hopeful, as winds calmed and fire-snuffing snow fell on the region, yet worried as some waited to find out whether their homes had been destroyed in the unseasonal blaze.
The wildfires that forced the communities of Louisville, population 21,000, and Superior, 13,000, to evacuate Thursday were no longer considered a danger late Friday morning.
The fires, which erupted in an area about 32 kilometers northwest of Denver, had consumed about 580 homes, a shopping center and a hotel.
Because some roads were closed Friday, some residents trekked back to the ruins of their homes on foot to gather belongings such as clothes and medicine, which they stuffed in backpacks or pulled in suitcases or wagons. Some came simply to see if their homes were still standing.
In the blazes’ wake
Cathy Glaab, a resident of Superior, said she found the home she shared with her husband reduced to a “charred and twisted pile of debris,” with only the mailbox standing, according to The Associated Press.
“Just hard. So many memories,” she said as she surveyed the scene. Glaab’s home was one of seven houses in a row that burned to the ground. She said that despite the devastation, she and her husband planned to rebuild their home, which once had a view of the mountains.
Sophia Verucchi and her partner, Tony Victor, were able to return to their apartment in Broomfield, on the edge of Superior, and found that it was not damaged. The previous afternoon, they fled with only Victor’s guitar, bedding and their cat, Senor Gato Blanco, according to The Associated Press.