Thread by @shayshinecastle

I am here and I am tweeting #Boulder city council; just trying to get Spanish-language resources for #MarshallFire together, too.

Obviously the latter is more important, but I'll tweet what's relevant tonight, which may include but not be limited to: Discussion on emergency winter sheltering, assault weapons ban, 2022 workplan. And other stuff.

First an update on the #MarshallFire recovery efforts.

"Our hearts are going out to our neighbors in Superior and Louisville," city manager NRV says. "We'll be here with you on this long road to recovery."

Mike Chard, head of the Office of Emergency Management, starting out. Marshall Fire started at 11:04 a.m. on Dec. 30 and "moved v rapidly to the east."

At height of fire, over 800 firefighters were responding.

Just over 6,000 acres, size of the Four Mile Fire back in 2010. "You take that footprint" and lay it on top of an urban environment, and that's the devastation we saw.

975 homes were destroyed, 120-130 damaged, Chard says (more accurate numbers in the next 24 hrs)

Also in the next 24 hrs, a total $$ value of damage. Expect that to be huge.

2 ppl still missing. We're looking for them. "I don't have more to say about that, as the investigation is ongoing," Chard says.

~35,000 people evacuated

Chard: "The two potential missing people, the fact that it's not more, I don't want to celebrate that bc every loss of life is tragic, but it could have been more."

Winds died down 8:30-9 p.m. on Dec. 30. They were "still substantial" but "the rapid and aggressive fire growth was over by the later periods of the night," Chard says.

The snow helped keep the fire from spreading (it is now 100% contained). It also complicated damage assessment, etc.

"Now it turns to the heavy lift of trying to get people back into their homes," Chard says.

Chard: There is a tremendous amount of loss of pets. Many animals were saved.

100% of electric service has been restored to the disaster area.

700 crews brought in to accomplish that, Chard says. "Quite an armada."

"Even with all the snow, some of the collapsed buildings are reigniting," Chard says. So there's still fire response work to be done.

"This wasn't just a fire event, but a significant wind event," Chard says. Homes in Boulder were impacted.

25 homes in the city of Boulder were damaged, NRV says. City has its own emergency declaration.

Local 911 dispatch answered more than 3 calls per minute at the height of the emergency, NRV says.

NRV: Permanently affordable city rentals are being offered for one year to displaced persons from the fire, regardless of income.

NRV: We're not actively enforcing occupancy limits, so don't be concerned about those as you welcome in displaced people. We thank you for helping.

If you have a Louisville rec center pass, you can use that in Boulder's rec centers. Not the biggest deal, but exercise can be good for recovery so... not nothing.

70 city employees live in Louisville and Superior.
5 of them lost their homes in the fire... so far. Not everyone has been able to get back in and assess the damage.

NRV going over how to help. The best way right now is to donate $$.

Lots of ways to help here, including that link to donate $$. boulderbeat.news/marshall-fire-…

And en español! Thanks to everyone who helped, sent Spanish-language resources and translated existing lists upon request :) boulderbeat.news/inciendo-marsh…

NRV: We're thinking how else the city can help, like allowing short-term rentals to convert to long-term temporarily. Possibly waiving or expediting licensing requirements.

"We don't know yet what's feasible."

Got a creative idea? Let the city know, NRV says.

Councilwoman Nicole Speer: Are mental health resources available for the wider community? Folks who've taken people in? Journalists? Or just those directly impacted by the fire?

NRV: They're openly available for anyone who needs assistance in our community.

Speer: "If we have enough available, I want to encourage those in our community ... please reach out to those resources if it will help you get through."

Councilman Matt Benjamin: Is there any way to reach out to folks with vacant homes? If there's inventory available, is there any way we can make it easier for those homes to be opened up?

NRV: Right now we're still in response mode. But we can put that idea in the mix.

Friend: How many injuries were there from the fire? Aside from the two missing.

Chard: I'm sure there were, but I've not been made aware of any. More info will be available by the end of the week.

Friend: Do we expect any ripple effects by offering affordable housing to folks from the fire? That's great, but what about folks who *do* qualify for affordable housing?

Firnhaber: What the 12 months relates to is that individuals can move into affordable housing for 12 months who don't meet the requirements. That's not intended to take affordable housing stock out of where it's been focused on...

... I don't have the number of units that are available right now. It's typically really low, Firnhaber says. We'll be working with others, like BARHA, who have more stock than we do.

Friend: Maybe we could get some followup? I like that we are making housing easily available. And I also want to make sure we are accounting for and preparing for making sure that folks who need it / do qualify don't lose access.

Friend switching to another fire: The Pearl Street condo fire. Reports of folks having difficulty accessing their belongings. Is there anything we can help with now?

NRV: The folks we heard from initially have been able to get in, I believe.

Fire chief Mike Calderazzo: I'm only aware of 1 resident who can't gain access. That is between that person and the HOA... there's not much we can do. The deal was the HOA would not allow any residents or unauthorized parties to go, following legal advice.

In this particular case, it was use the approved third party or find a third party yourself, Mike Calderazzo says. "That doesn't come for free." Maybe there are resources to help her. Idk.

In case you're lost, the issue was that residents had to pay to get in and get their stuff... apparently a third party for legal / safety reasons...? Not too many more details. I was chasing this story down when the Marshall Fire happened.

Winer: How do we encourage people to sign up for emergency alerts?

Not really an answer to that one, other than we should do it.

You can do that here: bouldercounty.org/safety/emergen…

And with that, the fire update is over.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you.