“We informed the property owner that they could proceed with demolition if they treat the structure as though it contains asbestos and use a contractor qualified to perform asbestos-regulated demolition activities."”

CDPHE

NEDERLAND — It is a month and a half into the new year, and movement has yet to happen on clearing the site of the Caribou Village Shopping Center, which tragically burned down on October 9, 2025.

Since the fire, which destroyed over 20 Nederland businesses, residents and business owners have waited patiently for healing to begin, while local and state representatives and the property owner continue to shift the blame for the delay.

Following the last of the many insurance companies involved in investigations being given access to the site at the beginning of the year, representatives for the owner of the center, Tebo Properties, informed their former tenants on January 14 that they had received their demolition permit from the state.

The email from Tebo Properties stated that business owners would have an opportunity to confer one-on-one with a demolition crew through the site’s perimeter fence; the crew would then enter the tenant’s site and attempt to retrieve any remaining belongings. 

For safety reasons, tenants were not to be permitted to enter their former spaces.

Close by, but still untouchable.

Photo by Jessica LaFone

The following day, business owners received a follow-up email from Tebo Properties which stated that the date when tenants can retrieve their belongings was being pushed out to the end of the month, and that an excavator would begin preparing the property for the retrieval process on January 21. 

Nederland Town Manager Jonathan Cain then updated the public during a meeting of the Board of Trustees on January 20, stating that the Town had acquired its demolition permit, and that business owners were soon to be allowed to consult in the search for their items.

No excavator came on January 21, but tenants received another email from Tebo Properties, this time stating that the retrieval process would be pushed out potentially for several more weeks due to “complications with the State.” 

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) Air Pollution Control Division, the delay in clean-up is due to Tebo Properties, as they are currently being required to choose the path forward. 

“The property owner has the option to hire a Colorado-certified asbestos inspector to further test the debris, or assume asbestos is present and remove it under asbestos-safe procedures,” the CDPHE explained. 

“We informed the property owner that they could proceed with demolition if they treat the structure as though it contains asbestos and use a contractor qualified to perform asbestos-regulated demolition activities.

“So far, the owner is choosing a different route, proposing to develop a robust sampling plan that CDPHE will review to safely collect additional asbestos samples.” Further, the CDPHE approved a site stabilization plan on January 12, to ensure safety for such extensive testing.

Regarding the origin of the fire, the CDPHE recommended directing any inquiries to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, which in turn stated that the “fire is still under investigation and the report cannot be released.” They directed further inquiries to the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD). 

What was left unburned brings back memories. 

Photo by Barbara Hardt

The NFPD released an official press release on January 27, providing an update to the investigation that was conducted once the smoke dissipated by Colorado’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

“It became clear that the scale and complexity of the incident—a fully involved, collapsed 30,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building—could exceed the ability of local responders to conduct a comprehensive and accurate investigation,” the press release reads. 

“The ATF offered to respond with the National Response Team (NRT), to coordinate the investigation into the origin and cause of the fire—encompassing scene processing, evidence  collection and analysis, witness interviews, and comprehensive data management, at no direct cost to our community.

“Based on ongoing communications with the ATF, Nederland Fire expects additional information regarding the origin and cause of the fire to be released during the summer of 2026.”

After CDPHE’s report about their site stabilization plan and the need to make the area safe for further investigation and testing, Cain updated the community on February 3, stating that the Town was still ready to issue permits to begin the clean-up, and was prepared to take action if the process was delayed much further. 

“The goal is to have a phase one project that brings the beam and the firewall down,” Cain said about the site, explaining that the completion of that project would allow for the further asbestos testing needed. 

“There has been a lot of testing throughout this process for asbestos, and specifically it has not been found. We think it’s likely true that if there is asbestos it is very minimal.

“We remain ready to issue permits and we’re trying to encourage them to move quickly at this point,” Cain continued, before describing the powers that Nederland can enforce to expedite the process. 

“We can compel them to action; we are aware that this site is very important to our town and we want to make sure that it doesn’t sit as it is, and that it doesn’t sit empty, so we’re trying to make sure that we’re balancing that equation. Either way we’re expecting movement to happen very soon.”