Marshall Fire Recovery: Expedited Permitting Speeds Rebuilding 

The Marshall Fire in Boulder County shocked everyone with its speed and devastation. Within a few hours it had taken more than 1,200 homes and businesses. After 34 months the recovery is remarkable. The cities of Superior and Louisville, the two most affected, have made a Herculean effort to restore the homes and neighborhoods, accelerating a process that many expected would take years longer.  

“We had to be flexible and work on different creative processes,” said Allison James, Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Manager for the Town of Superior. “Time was of the essence and still continues to be.” 

James’ job is one of many created since the fires to help prevent another disaster like it in the future. Superior lost 391 homes and three businesses. As of late October, 271 building permits were issued and 118 homes were completed. Louisville saw 550 properties destroyed, and so far 285 rebuild permits have been issued with another 28 under review. James said that many property owners are still trying to decide what to do after being left without enough to rebuild.  

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“I think those people who were severely underinsured are having a much harder time,” James said. “We reached out to a little over 100 residents who are not in the building process yet. Some have sold the lots and some are still working with their insurance companies to close the gap and some are still on the fence.”  

Unforeseen issues, beyond more expensive code requirements and modern construction standards, like large, expensive retaining walls that are essential on steeply sloping lots, were omitted from property values and have complicated the decision of whether to rebuild or sell and move on.  

“People who aren’t rebuilding and are selling their lot are usually underinsured,” said Bartley Cox, who lost his Louisville home of 28 years. “There have been some issues with the retaining walls. Some are looking at $300,000 each to rebuild the retaining walls. This is one of the problems with insurance coverage. Some people didn’t even know they owned the retaining walls and were unaware they were responsible for rebuilding it. Some of the walls are owned by two properties. No one considered it would burn.”  

Cox said the claims process with his insurer required a long education and time commitment to recover enough funds to rebuild, but he still isn’t sure it’s enough. He estimates the value of his 8,000 square-foot lot, with excellent Flatiron views, is about $500,000. Construction bids to replace the home are coming in at $1.4 million or more, which exceeds his insurance. However, new homes built on burned lots are selling for upwards of $600 per square foot, while homes saved from destruction but remodeled are selling for around $450 per square foot.  

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The cities have not tallied exactly who has rebuilt and who has sold their lot and moved on, but as of November 1 there are a dozen lots listed for sale in Louisville with 71 sold since the fire. In Superior there two dozen lots for sale and 35 closed since January 2021.  

Every burned home has residents with a different perspective, and those who have rebuilt may realize a boon from the higher value of their homes. Despite the difficulties, the overall feeling is that the cities and Boulder County made the necessary concessions and expedited normally ponderous bureaucracy to help people obtain permits and rebuild within their budgets.

Those who stayed were allowed to rebuild under older codes lacking more stringent energy efficiency requirements, and ironically, fire prevention remedies like pricey fire sprinkler systems that are now required under the 2022 code. However, this applied only to original homeowners. Anyone purchasing lots was required to design their buildings to meet the newer building and energy codes.  

“The city was good to work with,” Cox said. “They were good at communicating with the homeowners and builders. They are all ears when it comes to focus groups: What are the questions and problems? They made an effort to tackle them.”

A perspective on wildfires  

It was late in 2003 when I first wrote about wildfires. The Pumpkin Fire and Cerro Grande Fire broke out in New Mexico and threatened to take out the Los Alamos Nuclear Research Lab. In a story for Outside Magazine, I spent the summer with a hotshot crew out of Rocky Mountain National Park and wrote about the sense of amazement at the size and speed of the 47,000-acre blaze that burned 245 homes which, at the time, was a staggering loss. We had no idea it was just foreshadowing the next 20 years.  

Despite our experience of the last two decades, the Marshall Fire was something no one in Boulder could imagine. More than 1,200 homes, hotels and businesses and hundreds of millions of dollars in city infrastructure was torched. At the time, REColorado and IRES, the two main multiple listing services in Colorado, listed slightly more than 1,900 single-family homes for sale along the entire Front Range. Rentals were also in tight supply, forcing the unexpectedly homeless to scramble for a place to live.  

It’s been 34 months since the fire was contained and as with every situation like this, there are winners and losers. The underinsured took whatever the insurance company offered, sold their land and moved on. Investors jumped at the chance to build new homes in an area in great demand and those with the resources rebuilt homes that are better than new. Today we live in a world of rapidly changing climate where wildland fires are no longer limited to mountain communities. Parks and open space throughout our Front Range communities are looked at with wariness and now have their own special plans for managing what could lead to another citywide disaster. 

Steve Titus was a freelance writer for ColoradoBiz, Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, Outside, Sail and  Ski magazines. He has also written for The Denver Post  and many other publications. Today he is a licensed real estate broker and licensed general contractor in Denver, Boulder and several other Front Range cities.