BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The deadline to sign up for the Marshall Fire debris removal program has been pushed back, giving those who face the challenge of rebuilding from the ground up more time to enroll.
Those who have yet to sign up for the Boulder County debris removal assistance program now have until Tuesday, Feb. 8, to complete the right-of-entry (R.O.E.) form. So far, more than 1,000 residents impacted by the Marshall Fire in unincorporated Boulder County, Superior and Louisville have enrolled in the program that will be run by those who have already cleared out some of the irreparable wreckage.
“We have already had thousands of feet on the ground putting in countless hours to complete some of the initial phases of this effort,” Boulder County said in a news release.
A contractor for the project has not been picked as of yet, however, a proposal is out for bids, the deadline for which is Feb. 1. County officials expect to have the selection process completely done by the end of the second week of February.
One question that victims have aimed at the county in abundance is how much this will cost.
The county said it is still having daily conversations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Colorado officials about new factors that keep popping up, like whether or not to include foundation removal, retaining walls and sidewalk and driveway replacement as part of the project, and this is appearing to slow the process down.
Boulder County will reportedly be applying for financial reimbursement for what they put into this program through the FEMA Private Property Debris Removal program. If approved, the costs would be split up with 75% being put forth by FEMA, 12.5% from Colorado, and 12.5% from local government. Once submitted, this review process will take between two to four weeks.
What has been done so far?
Phase one consisted of spoiled food removal, which rose in response to unified calls for trash assistance in the immediate aftermath of the fire. Shortly after that, on Jan. 14, right-of-way clearing began, which unblocked driveways and roads of torched vehicles and trees.
According to the county, nearly 200 cars and dozens of trees were removed, while hundreds of pounds of rotten food were removed from the properties.
In early January, health officials asked victims of the Marshall Fire not to return to their property due to health risks that would stem from breathing in the toxins from the wreckage, specifically the ash. Boulder County’s Public Works will offer a service in the next two weeks that will mitigate this problem while improving the claims from Superior residents that their water tasted of smoke.
That service is called hydro-mulching and is a process that helps limit the spread of ash into the air and surrounding sources of water. Public Works is currently reaching out to property owners affected to give them the information in relation to this process. Once applied, the department asks that no one enters the property as potential disturbances could release the toxic ash into the air.
Smoke detector removal program
Those whose homes were damaged by the historic disaster can recycle their now-defunct smoke detectors for free until March 31. To do so you can set up an appointment with Boulder County Resource Conservation Division’s Hazardous Management Facility (HMMF) on their home page.
