Black Forest residents reflect on five years of recovery after fire

Five years after the Black Forest fire, residents who decided to rebuild their homes are still trying to move forward.

The Black Forest fire burned more than 14,000 acres back in 2013, killing two people and destroying more than 500 homes.

On Sunday, the same people who lost everything are gathered at the Black Forest Community park surrounded by the Ponderosa trees celebrating how far they’ve come. The park was filled with music, food trucks and resources for those who are still cleaning up.

Lief Garrison, chairman of the Black Forest Foundation says, ” I’ll never forget that week. It was a terrible awful week.”

Calandra Vargas said, “After everything was open, I saw my vet clinic burn down, I saw my neighbors lose everything. You couldn’t help but weep.”

Just a couple hundred feet next to the park was a clearing with burned trees and piles of old wood that still needed to be picked up. It’s just one example of areas that haven’t recovered.

El Paso County Commission President, Daryl Glenn said, “people are still grieving, going through losing a lot of those things, looking at a lot of the burned sticks that still need to be brought down.”

Other residents like Ray Rozak said he and his family are still struggling to move forward, “we’re replanting, we’re moving on, but we’ll never forget.”

The Black Forest Fire remains the most destructive in Colorado history.