Mountain Shadows community hosts playground dedication, neighbors show resilience, fight two years after devastating fire

Hundreds came together Saturday at a special late-summer gathering at a playground dedication in Mountain Shadows.

Two years ago, the Waldo Canyon Fire ravaged homes in Mountain Shadows, destroying 347.

“It was real easy initially to throw your hands up and say I’m going somewhere else but the majority of people chose to stay and fight and stay,” homeowner Eddie Hurt said. “We have this testament to what our neighborhood is today. It’s even better than it was two years ago.”

In late June 2012, Pam Reeves and her family lost their home.

“We’ve been through hurricanes and then we moved to Colorado thinking we’d just have blizzards,” Reeves said. Never did we think we’d lose our home in a wildfire. It was a big shock.”

Now, this community’s strength and resolve are in the spotlight. A ribbon cutting ceremony marks the birth of the playground complete with hand prints from the students at Chapita Elementary.

The passage of time, however, does not stop the questions from innocent kids just trying to master the monkey bars.

“When the clouds were gray, yesterday, one of them asked is that smoke?,” Hurt said. “So the playground represents the community coming together and helping our children heal and overcome those thoughts hopefully so it’s something they don’t have to live with the rest of their lives.”

More than 80 percent of the homes lost in Mountain Shadows have been rebuilt since the fire.