As the Marshall fire whipped through Superior’s Rock Creek Ranch subdivision, one firefighter clocked the amount of time it took for each house to explode into flames: Seven minutes.
No one had ever seen such a destructive fire in the middle of winter.
Just before lunch on Dec. 30, 2021, hurricane force wind gusts ignited dry grasses, which then carried the flames to wooden fences that surrounded every home in Superior’s Rock Creek subdivision. The Rock Creek Home-Owner’s Association mandated cedar fences 25 years ago. Today, all of them stand six feet tall, painted in a color called Cabot Dune Grey.
Those cedar and split rail fences — miles of which had been left untreated and dried out — became match sticks for anything in their path, including dozens of Rock Creek homes.
A strip of wooden fencing which was destroyed in Louisville has also blown down during recent winds. Builders say that wooden fencing lasts five years if it is kept up. Metal fencing, which is being considered by Superior-area HOAs, is made out of Australia in response to the country's wildfire problem and has a 10 year warranty.
“Fences acted like fuses. They moved the fire along fence lines and brought the fire to the houses,” said Mountain View Fire Marshall Jeff Webb. “We tried to create fire breaks by kicking down fences and breaking the continuous path.”
Firefighters had to make split second decisions on which houses to fight for — and which didn't stand a chance.
“Anytime we have a fire that is bigger than the capacity of the resources available, we have to triage,” Webb said.
Most Marshall fire victims who are in the throes of rebuilding believe that installing fire-wise fencing — as opposed to cedar — around their homes will help prevent a second catastrophic fire disaster. Scores of foundations have been excavated and frames sit on properties like a promise unkept, waiting for HOAs to decide on whether they’ll budge on wooden fence mandates.
Coincidentally, most of the Marshall fire destruction happened in the same zip code. The phrase "80027 Strong," has become its own hashtag — a rally for the return to normal.
Aesthetics versus safety?
The seven-member Rock Creek Master Homeowners Association Community board has kept Marshall fire survivors waiting for more than a year as it mulls over whether or not to amend codes to allow them to install metal fencing.
The hold-up? Aesthetics and property values.
The waiting has grated on nerves that are already frayed over other delays, notably debris cleanup, which was held up over lawsuits from private companies who wanted the lucrative work and were not awarded the job.
Pushback from their own HOAs was the last thing anyone expected, some homeowners said.
“You would think that the easiest hurdle to get over would be folks on the HOA board and their decisions. They’re the community. They should understand more than anyone,” said Jen Kaaoush, a Superior Town Trustee who is co-director of a Marshall Fire victim group called Superior Rising.
Rock Creek resident Thomas O’Connor agreed.
Current cedar fencing in Superior's Rock Creek subdivision is six feet tall and is a harmonious color called Cabot Dune Grey.
“We’re finding the progress is slower than we’d like," he said. "There are homeowners ready to build fences and they can’t move forward.”
After excruciating months of waiting, he turned to the neighborhood Facebook page to help make his point. Last week, after a particularly pivotal HOA meeting, he posted a scary home doorbell ring video recorded from the back of his home on the morning the fire struck. It showed a view of his backyard as smoke billowed from the adjacent open space, carrying flames which consumed his wooden fence in minutes.
It was video no one wanted to see, but its powerful images changed some minds.
Of the 2,400 residents of Rock Creek, less than 1% lost their homes. Many of the 99% do not attend the HOA's virtual meetings, according members who have showed up.
The major worry of many of those unaffected by the Marshall fire is how rebuilding would affect home property values.
"You do want the aesthetic. It affects your property values. It makes a difference when you take a walk through the neighborhood," said one neighbor who was out applying weed killer to the front yard on Friday.
She is a renter whose home survived the Marshall fire and didn't want to be identified because she didn't want to upset her neighbors.
“I feel sorry for the people who lost their homes, but would this require me to have to replace my fencing, too?” another homeowner, who also wished to remain anonymous due to a wish for privacy, asked a reporter.
The answer is no, said O’Connor.
“We are not asking for a mandate for everyone. We’re just asking for the option,” O’Connor said. “A year and a half ago, I wasn’t really thinking about wildfire protection. It’s been a real learning process for all of us and we are asking the HOAs to take the lead and protect our communities.”
HOAs on the fence
Louisville’s Coal Creek Ranch HOA also faces pressure to act from its Marshall fire survivors, who are anxiously waiting for guidelines on what to do about fences.
Of 330 homes in the subdivision, 130 were a total loss, including that of Cheryl Boyd.
A line of wooden fencing surrounds Louisville's Coal Creek Ranch subdivision. Some was destroyed by the Marshall fire and carried the flames to nearby homes.
She understands that it’s the job of an HOA, which is largely made up of volunteers, to monitor consistency among the properties. But she thinks that HOAs should be proactive when it comes to unpredictable natural disasters.
“I used to think beautiful landscaping was the most important thing, but since the Marshall fire, our priorities need to shift,” Boyd said.
The Marshall fire, which jumped the highway and hit Boyds' dream home, changed her mind.
“The conversation has revolved around aesthetics or trying to blend in," she said. "I say let’s have the conversation be about risk of future fire. How can we build something that protects our community from inevitable events?”
A call to the Coal Creek Ranch HOA went unanswered, but its website documents say the updated policy for fencing guidelines are in progress.
Boyd hopes those guidelines will include amendments to allow for fire-resistant fencing.
The HOA's next meeting is set for April 12.
Boyd, a wife and mother of two small kids, said she's tired.
“I just want for my kids to be able to walk to school,” said Boyd.
The children won't be walking to class from a new front door by August because of the delays.
Homes are almost ready to inhabit along Andrew Lane in Superior. Many of the homes on open space where wooden fences were the only border were lost. Marshal fire victims want better protection in the form, they say, of metal fencing. Some HOAs are resistant to change.
Boyd's family has moved six times since the fire, but she hates to complain because the world is filled with unsurmountable challenges worse than hers.
“This is a tough time to be a human," Boyd said. "It’s the world’s tiniest violin for us."
Polis to HOAs: Be flexible
Not all housing areas that lost homes to The Marshall fire are controlled by HOA's.
The fire tore through Superior’s Sagamore subdivision’s 176 homes, but the Town of Superior is in charge of housing codes and rebuilding decisions.
Using fire-resistant materials can be tricky.
“Sagamore was effectively ground zero for the Marshal Fire,” Mayor Pro-Tem Neal Shah said.
Some people have moved into their homes, adjusting for coyotes that come to the back door. They have not put their fencing up as they wait for the town's board to provide more flexibility in the next month.
“It’s 100% likely that we will approve fire-resistant fencing,” said Shah.
He believes that the Marshall fire will not be the state’s last natural disaster. The official is shouting "from the rooftops" for Colorado “to be better prepared.”
Gov. Jared Polis, who grew up in Boulder, is already warning HOAs to be flexible when it comes to future mandates.
The issue was raised in a March 23 community meeting at the Superior Community Center.
“HOAs have their function,” Polis said to scores of fire survivors seated in the main hall.
He then compared what state government has done in the past with other HOA regulations.
“They (HOAs) can no longer ban solar if you want it. They can no longer ban EV charging. This could be a similar thing. It’s too late for this session, but let’s just say you can’t ban fire mitigation. It seems like a logical thing,” Polis told the audience. “It might be an area to look in the future.”
In a statement, gubernatorial spokesperson Conor Cahill told The Denver Gazette that HOA policies shouldn’t be so restrictive that they overlook common sense fire mitigation.
“Governor Polis continues to support efforts to reduce the power of HOAs when they prevent homeowners from protecting themselves and others. The Colorado Fire Commission is aware of this,” he wrote.
Other state fire agencies are weighing in.
Wooden fencing was referred to as “vertical fuels” and, though not the cause, they were “a significant aggravator” to homes lost in the Marshall fire, according to a major state government report written by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Controls. In its “Facilitated Learning Analysis," division officials found that, “in subdivisions where perimeter wooden fences abutted open space, a large majority of houses were lost, yet in areas where manicured lawns acted as a buffer between wildland fuels and fences, many houses were saved.”
Division Director Mike Morgan said that now a Wildfire Resiliency Code Board now exists and it “is working its way through the legislative process this session.”
The job of that Code Board “could evaluate matters, such as this on a case-by-case basis, and provide standards for ensuring safety is properly prioritized while recognizing and respecting local control,” Morgan said.
Getting off of the fence
If all goes according to their hopes, Rock Creek Marshall fire survivors may finally be able to install their metal fence and pave the way for other HOAs to follow suit.
After months of thorough research, a Rock Creek fencing committee — which includes some determined fire survivors, such as Thomas O'Connor — came up with a powder-coated metal fence that is manufactured in Australia and offered by a Greeley company. Except for a small opening along the bottom, the metal fence looks very similar and is around the same cost of the cedar fences, which link Rock Creek homes like a daisy chain.
The color, "Dune," is also a dead ringer for Cabot Grey Dune, which is the name of the paint on Rock Creek's cedar fences.
Still, the HOA board was not convinced until a pivotal meeting Thursday night. After a couple of presentations by board members who changed their stance, other board members appeared to be ready to approve the fire-safe metal option, according to Kaaoush, who listened to the meeting.
In a straw poll vote of 5-2, the volunteer Rock Creek HOA board's members said they would likely support allowing the metal fence if the vote were done last Thursday.
That vote is scheduled to happen on April 27, but there's no guaranteed outcome.
Some homeowners said they will build a metal fence and let the board deal with their decision.
In an email to The Denver Gazette, Rock Creek Master Homeowners Association Community Manager Danielle McDonough said the board is “currently in the process of considering alternative options for fence design and/or materials.”
Kaaoush hopes that promises, such as this, are not just lip service to appease vocal and heartbroken Marshall fire victims, who just want to go home.
“The HOA’s job is to ensure that Rock Creek looks harmonious,” Kaaoush said. "But common sense is being ignored."
