marshall fire
Newsletter
Credit: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash
A fire-fueled political shift in Colorado drives sweeping new laws
Kyle Brown, now a state representative in Colorado, leveraged his experience with the 2021 Marshall Fire disaster to enact laws protecting fire victims, transforming state policy.
In short:
- The Marshall Fire in 2021 led the then-city councilmember in Louisville, Colorado, to enter the state legislature, where he collaborated with fire survivors to pass laws addressing insurance delays, mortgage problems and fire-safe rebuilding.
- Survivors, using organized advocacy, guided these bills, resulting in rapid legislative progress that helped fire victims rebuild.
- The laws passed will benefit future disaster victims across Colorado, potentially serving as a model for other states.
Key quote:
“We needed to accelerate the pace of recovery, so I just listened.”
— Kyle Brown, Colorado state representative
Why this matters:
The Marshall Fire recovery efforts show that organized community advocacy can drive significant legislative change. These new laws may set a precedent for disaster-prone regions nationwide.
Related EHN coverage:
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Newsletter
Photo by Gennady Zakharin on Unsplash
How regulation makes preventing Colorado wildfires difficult
Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.
coloradosun.com
Colorado’s wildfire risk is so high some homeowners can’t get insured. The state may create last-resort coverage.
Some Colorado homeowners are telling state regulators and lawmakers that they can’t secure coverage for their homes because of rising wildfire risk.
www.cpr.org
Photos, then and now: Revisiting the Marshall fire’s devastation one year later, as communities rebuild
Recently I returned to some of the neighborhoods where I documented the Marshall fire's devastation a year ago. Here are photos of those places then and now.
Colorado officials have ignored lessons from Marshall Fire
A year after the deadly Marshall Fire drove thousands of Coloradans from their homes, the state’s densest communities aren’t preparing for the next climate-driven wildfire.
Newsletter
Photo by Malachi Brooks on Unsplash
Three months after a wildfire swept through, displaced Colorado residents struggle to rebuild
Though it burned for just six hours, the Marshall prairie fire became the most destructive in Colorado history, destroying 6,000 acres and almost 1,100 houses and businesses across the towns of Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder county.
Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash
VOC levels in Marshall Fire area similar to ordinary urban air pollution, NOAA finds
NOAA used a mobile van to sample outdoor air in Louisville, Superior, and affected areas of unincorporated Boulder County 11 to 14 days after the Marshall Fire.
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