LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Nearly a hundred Marshall Fire victims gathered Sunday afternoon to remember the more than 1,000 pets they lost at the unveiling of a new memorial at the Louisville Arboretum.
The sculpture depicts several animals interacting harmoniously: a dog, bird, cat and reptile. It was donated by Louisville Rising, a Colorado nonprofit that raised $30,000 for the project.
"It looks like pet heaven," said Caleb Dickinson with Louisville Rising.
Dickinson's organization recruited firefighter Michael Garman for the project. Dickinson also wrote the inscription on the plaque.
"It's healing," said Lisa Young, a Marshall Fire victim who lost her home and two cats to the fire.
Young found out her home and cats were lost when she saw the house burning on a newscast. Her two cats, Jeux and Noel, were feral cats she adopted from a rescue when they were five months old.
"I ended up doing therapy for my cats because I couldn't get over them," said Young.
In addition to losing her two living pets, Young said she also buried several of her previous pets in her backyard. When crews began to clear out the burned land, Young lost the graves of her former pets as well.
Young plans to create a private memorial for her lost pets in her new backyard.
The Marshall Fire ignited near Superior and Louisville on Dec. 30, 2021. It rapidly spread due to 115 mph wind gusts and dry conditions, resulting in two deaths, the destruction of 1,084 homes, and over $2 billion in damages.
The fire likely started from a buried fire and a disconnected power line.
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