December 30, 2021 - Boulder, Colorado
My day started with a nice cup of coffee. I was staying at my friends' place and noticed how the wind was more intense that day, reaching 100 mph gusts, and knocked down patio furniture, trash cans and a couple of tree branches. I had just finished talking to my friend Wendy and decided to treat myself with a bit of mindless streaming videos. But Wendy called back within the hour, and I could tell something was wrong. I didn't have good phone reception, and all I could make out was that she was concerned I was "too close to the fire" - what fire? I immediately went online, looked for any news and then looked outside the window. A big, black smoke cloud covered the sky. The wind blowing ashes and debris everywhere. Fear.
I decided to stick it out at my friends' place until evacuation orders were in place, but started to look for the cat carrier, just in case.
I went outside and a couple in our friends' circle had just pulled up to the gate, saying they were evacuated (we will find out later their home was ok, but the barn where they had concerts in Summer time, get togethers and family time burned to the ground, a mere 50 feet from the house). They were moving to safer ground and told me I should get out. The fire was moving so fast, it was burning the size of a football field in seconds, destroying everything in its path. Embers were flying great distances, igniting more fires.
I called my friends, whose house I was staying at, and had to break the news - "go to safety" she said "the neighbors will take the cats, you just go". I went home, all along staring at this big, enormous cloud in the sky, and the smoke in the air was dense. I drove and had to avoid all the fallen trees in the middle of the streets, branches and trash flying around and the multitude of cars, people evacuating. A FedEx semi was on its side in the middle of the main road to safety, blown over by the wind, delaying our exodus. What would usually be a 5 minute drive, took half an hour, but I made it home safely. I already had a bag with essentials packed (touring days taught me to always have one ready), and collected all my external hard drives, documents that were in a fireproof box, my gear and... waited. Will it come closer? How many homes, businesses, cars and trees will this thing devour? Firefighters were helpless, but they were trying to fight the wind. Police went door to door in the neighborhoods that were burning down to make sure nobody was home, and left doors open if they saw pets. Pets... most people were at work when the fire started, and couldn't get back home to save their animals... heartbreaking aftermath. My heart still can't take it.
The winds finally died down to 50mph, and around 10PM I decided to go to bed, exhausted. I turned on two air purifiers in my bedroom and laid down. I fell asleep. At 2AM I woke up, checked the news, still far enough, I was safe. My friends' cats were safe. My friends were safe. I crashed and woke up a couple of hours later. I had a job to do. I called in to see if I had an assignment and left a message. When they called back saying that everything was shut down and they would need me for the aftermath, I just looked at my gear, and knew that I would only be able to document heartbreaking views. So I just waited for the forecasted snow, and prayed.
The snow came, put out the fires and covered everything with its white blanket. Over 1,000 structures lost. One confirmed fatality, which is a sad miracle.
And this is the new reality of a town that was vibrant, beautiful... neighborhoods where people shared BBQs, school functions, anniversaries, birthday parties, births, funerals... a community that in a matter of hours changed forever. And I get to document its rebuilding. Because that's what Coloradans do - they get their resources together and help. The generosity of people who have seen darkness is immense, and all the GoFundMe pages, the immediate willingness to help, the social media calls that were answered with truckloads of donations. That's where my focus is. Where the Good is, where the helpers are, where a carload of clothes and toiletries to a family that lost everything, means everything. My job? I've been sitting on some photos of the devastation, not sure how to share. There are no words, really. Just images. And when the news moves on to another story, these families will still need their community to help and give, so I'll do what I can. I am revisiting the Love Project, and donating part of the proceeds to emergency shelters that need help. If you'd like to take part, send me an email - lucia@luciadegiovanni.com.
For now, this is where it all starts.
