Black Forest Residents Look for Hope in the Ashes

(Colorado Springs) The blaze is the worst Colorado residents have seen. Nearly 500 homes destroyed and 18,000 acres turned to dust. When the flames ignited last Tuesday from Black Forest, hundreds of families were evacuated with little more than the clothes on their back.

Now, a week later, residents are slowly being allowed beyond the barricades securing the area as firefighters are are putting out the last of the remaining embers of a monstrous fire. 

For Kathy Miller, she knows her family will have to start from scratch because she says, their entire property was burned to the ground.

We met just a few short miles from her home, near a military checkpoint guarding the area. Miller says she is surprised how far up Black Forest Road She is able to drive without seeing signs of the massive fire.

The scene is quite different from a week ago. It was just after 3 in the afternoon last Tuesday when Miller heard about a fire engulfing the area. She says her mother woke her from a nap and after conferring with her grandfather, they realized, the fire was coming their way and they had little time to get out.

Miller had just enough time to grab a few days worth of clothes, video games for her 7-year old son and a few family heirlooms. But it wasn’t enough time to pack everything before she, her son, a cousin, her father, grandfather and 6 dogs rallied into two vehicles and fled the scene.

“As we were driving out, we could see huge plumes of smoke and actually came straight down Black Forest Road, we never could see the flames,” Miller states. 

After seeing the news, shortly after, Miller knew her family left in the nick of time. The fire reached their house within 30 minutes after they fled.

“We know that the windmill is standing in the front yard, she tells me, “but that’s the only thing we know.” Miller is nervous about seeing the property, the thought of not knowing what to expect when her family is allowed back is “hardest part.”

The family home was a 5 acre property which included a long fenced area, a trailer, storage sheds, stacks of hay and of course the house itself.

“I got two paintings my grandma made that were hanging in my room,” Miller tells me, but those were the only heirlooms she was able to retrieve. She says one thing she will miss are the silver spoons hanging in the dining room and collection of dolls her late grandmother gave her every birthday growing up.

But Miller says her son is “handling it like a champ” and is hanging onto a positive attitude much more than she expected. “We’ve started getting stuff replaced and he’s getting a few toys,” She quips, “We were able to save one of his favorite video games, Skylander, he’s starting to get back to normal.” Miller realizes it may change when the boy sees the property completely gone.

But even with so much loss, Miller finds strength in the fact that everyone, including their 6 dogs made it out in time. She says there was a scare over the weekend when 4 of the dogs had run off, but with the help of the Humane Society and a tireless search, all the dogs were brought back to safety. There are many families however, who were not able to rescue their faithful family pets in time.  

FINDING FAMILY COMPANIONS

According to Gretchen Pressley, the Colorado Springs Humane Society Spokeswoman, “At all of our locations, we’ve taken in more than a thousand animals including horses, livestock, chickens, cats and dogs.”

When the fires first swept through Black Forest the Humane Society worked with law enforcement to retrieve animals whose owners called in having been forced to leave their companions behind. The Humane Society has nearly 20 rescue teams working with officials to find stray animals as well. Once the pets reach the facility, they are cared for by “trained staff and volunteers who make sure everyone is fed.”

Pressley says they’ve been working tirelessly to help animals who may have suffered injuries running through the fire, “We had a cat a couple of days ago who had come in and her whiskers were burned down and she had burns on her paws and she was just very singed overall.” But the vets were able to treat the cat’s burns and Pressley said the family was “overjoyed” to retrieve her as the cat escaped while they were packing to evacuate.

As the days go by, owners are able to match their lost ones with the Humane Society’s found animals and come to the facility to receive them.

Walking through the kennels, many of the dogs were retreated and appeared too scared to come close to the Humane Society staff, while others were barking and eager to get out after being in a closed space. Black Forest residents often own a substantial amount of land for pets to run and play. Naturally, Pressley notes, cats are a bit easier because they will eventually adapt to their surroundings.  

Pressley encourages the owners to always have a backup plan in case of a similar situation, but understanding it can be hard for the residents and so she says, they are continuing to do everything they can to rescue missing critters and treat them while they wait for their owners to come for them. 

While the public heavily relies on the Humane Society for immediate help there are still owners are still making attempts to go on to their property with police escorts in hopes to draw animals to food.

SURVEYING THE DAMAGE

The Millers are finally sifting through the remnants of their home and at her family’s first visit back to the property, Miller says the scene - “is devastated.” Walking through the ashes and soot, indeed the house had completely burned down. The two story home is now a pile of rubble and charred pieces. 

Where a piano once stood, only the strings are left, coins from a jar rusted and spilled on top of dust. Kathy Miller points out the kitchen and says, “this is where the back-door was and the refrigerator was here.” She surveys the scene still shocked at the pile of black the family home is now under. 

As we cross over the property, we notice glass from windows appears to be more melted than broken. Piles of metal singed but still standing, cars - discolored and rusted; and if they had tires, those too were circular strings of metal on the ground, the rubber melted off. Toy trucks and bikes burnt to a crisp and lying in the dirt, Miller says her son played with toys that had been in the family for a long time and now it’s gone. 

As if a scene from an apocalyptic movie, the Miller’s house and the aftermath the fire’s destruction is surreal and Miller says, she’s still taking it all in. She’s surprised their grill’s propane tanks and closet full of ammunition did not explode, but grateful for the small things, such as the few colorful coffee cups she discovered lying in the dust. And almost as if to prove it to herself she points out her grandfather’s windmill still standing. “My cousin was going to buy a new one, but then we saw on the news it was still there.” She says with a smile.

In fact, several yards around the windmill had not been touched and green grass still graced the bottom of the small stand. Against the burnt rubble of the Millers home, the Windmill gives them a small symbol of hope and remembrance of what they’ve been through. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

“We’re going to rebuild in the same location,” Miller says, “We’re going to have the same address, we’re going to have somebody come and professionally lay the foundation and our family is going to actually build the home ourselves.”

She says the home has been in the family for nearly 30 years and everyone in the family has lived in it at one time or another, so it’s important for them to rebuild it. Miller notes their insurance company, has “been amazing” and is even helping them rent out a home “until we get rebuilt enough to live out here again.” The house was “over-insured,” and she says her family more than enough to rebuild the inside and outside of a new home.

It’s a new beginning and sad ending for so many families. So, as the Black Forest checkpoints open and the Red Cross steps in with relief efforts, the residents return to where their homes once were to wade through their memories...in ashes.*

*View more of Ash's work at http://ashgallagher.com
*More photos to come

#OnTheRoad 2 Point 0 (P1)

Getting back into the groove of the life in the U.S. isn't all it's cracked up to be with gas expenses, car fixings and planning on the next stop. Plus living out of one's car doesn't always give way for regular schedule. Between sleep, finding healthy food, and working in free exercise on top of the journalist ventures of getting the story, the contacts, the pictures and pawning it off to a willing news organization..it's not a glorious ride. 

BUT along the way, there's the road trip and the moments when you breathe fresh air with the windows down, the wind in your hair, music by day and NPR or BBC radio by night, there's a world of fresh perspective and a few moments to catch the culture of America. 

So I made my first real stop in Memphis, TN and took time to visit a park on Riverside, near the Arkansas border. 

It was a picturesque little place, cruise boats coming in and downtown Memphis overlooking the park's bridges. But it was only a 20 minute stop and then on I went, heading for Kansas City, on my way to my first real destination, the raging Colorado Fires. 

 As I approached the night lights of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the air was hot and sticky. I headed for an old-timey diner on the back side of the city and let my friend know I was on the way. We had known each other for some time, our friendship over the phone, on social media and by email in the last few years, as she lives smack dab in the middle of America. 

Nonetheless, I needed the a break from the road and a few greasy fries to boot, 10pm already, I had lasted longer than I thought I would coming from Memphis. 

I pulled into Chubby's, the red lights lured me in for a second rate meal and friendly staffers who were over the top enthusiastic hooked us up with a little nighttime breakfast and I munched on an egg and cheese sandwich. The pickles were questionable and the fries, obviously, doused in ol' fashioned Ketchup. We scarfed down the greasy eats and I grabbed my camera for a few photos around the diner. 

Inside, outside, juke box, checkered walls and dim lighting. For a couple of hours, we joked, laughed and even snuck a photo of the kitchen staff. But before long, it was getting late and I headed out again, to finish the last leg of the trip and make it to the Rocky Mountains.

Arriving at the base of Pikes Peak, I was already set on a mission, Kansas was far behind me and with 65 miles to go from the Colorado border, there were only two things I could muster through my mind, a long nap and what needed to be done to get the story in. 

Connections, social media and church-goers, I would have a long haul and hopefully get an opportunity to shoot photos in Black Forest, which I would find out would take nearly a week. But for the being, I was looking forward to a pit stop, mostly for the sake of exhaustion. Still to come was the ultimate destination: California Dreamin'.