SUPERIOR, Colo. — It's been one month since the Marshall Fire and many victims say it feels like the time has flown by while dragging on at the same time.
On Sunday, the Superior Community Center invited anyone impacted by the Marshall Fire to come together for an event focused on the recovery process. It was organized by Superior Rising, which wanted to discuss what is next for the town.
Riddhi and Nirmal Solanki were two of dozens of people who came to the Superior Community Center for the event. The couple has two young daughters, and the family purchased a home in Superior around three years ago. Unfortunately, they lost their house in the Marshall Fire.
“It's devastating for us. We started celebrating our first festivals, you know, like, we are a multicultural family. So we celebrated Diwali, first Christmas, and we celebrated my younger daughter's birthday in December. And those were our last, best memories we spent with our family and friends at our house," said Riddhi. “All of a sudden, everything is shattered."
The memories of evacuating their home will stick with the family forever.
“We just saw thick smoke coming towards us and it was getting hard to breathe," said Nirmal. “It's pretty hard to think about what to take and what not to take.”
The parents said their daughters have taught them invaluable lessons about resilience during this difficult time.
“I was actually thinking that they might need more help. But the school helped a lot," said Nirmal. “I promised my daughter that I will rebuild the home that it was before. You're going to get it back. It’s just going to take some time. So, holding I’m my word, and she's holding me to my words.”
The family said they love Colorado, and want to rebuild in Superior. The support they have received from the community has only reinforced their feelings about the town.
“It's very hard for us to come back to the new normalcy," said Riddhi. "But we have to accept the fact and start rebuilding.”
The Marshall Fire burned more than 6,000 acres in a matter of hours and destroyed nearly 1,110 homes and businesses, and damaged nearly 200 others. One man is confirmed to have died in the fire, and investigators are working to determine if bone fragments belong to a woman missing since the fire tore through Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County.
Authorities are looking into whether a burning shed, downed power lines, an underground coal fire or human activity near the starting point of the fire were the possible cause.