On December 30th, a fire broke out in Boulder County, initial reports said it was caused by downed power lines, however, after inspection there was no downed power lines in the ignition are, therefore, a full investigation is still going on. Governor Polis and County Sheriff Joe Pelle say that there are 2,000 homes in the area yet not all were lost. It is estimated that 1,000 homes may have been lost. Many of these homes lost, belongs to our very own tigers.

There are many ways to help these families, but a quick and easy one is to make an online donation for those who were impacted by the fires. You can quickly do this at https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund or you can donate through the Archdiocese of Denver: https://secure2.convio.net/cfnc/site/Donation2?df_id=3220&3220.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T. You may want to donate food, water, blankets, etc… which helps, however making a cash donation allows these organizations to purchase the supplies that helps them relief the area more quickly and orderly.

Many officials and homeowners are going to need help clearing their properties in order to rebuild. So if you want get your hands dirty and you think that is the best way to help you can go to https://www.coloradoresponds.org to volunteer. It also provides links to multiple other organizations which helps Coloradans all over the state. Also this link: https://www.rmahf.org/avista.html is for Avista hospital caregivers affected by the fires as well.

This fire has left many people without clean water, electricity, and most importantly, a place to go and left them on a hunt to find temporary housing. If you are someone who can provide shelter for these people, you are able to sign up at https://www.airbnb.com/for-airbnb-org/how-to-host. If you sign up here, this website will help contact the families in need, and you will help give these families a temporary place to stay while they are searching for a home or rebuilding their own.

Thankfully, there were no fatalities caused by these fires, with Governor Polis stating that it was a “New Year’s Eve miracle,” so creating a support system for the families who have lost their homes is the most important thing that we can do right now. So, reach out to our friends and families who live in the area to make sure that they are okay. Offer any help that you can to those families in need.