Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.  Charlie Schmidtmann and one of his subcontractors stand on the foundation of his new home which is a work in progress. On Sunday, June 9, it will be a year since his house burned down in the Cold Springs Fire, one of eight buildings which were destroyed when a campfire was blown into a wild land fire because it was not fully extinguished.

Charlie and his wife Bretlyn lost everything in that fire but the hardest part was losing Geno, their Saint Bernard. When the first report of the fire came in, Charlie, a Nederland Fire Protection Firefighter, headed to the intersection of the Peak to Peak Highway and Cold Springs Road where the command center was set up. He watched the flames torch in the trees, blown by the wind, blown toward Sherwood Drive, where he lived.

"I wasn't that worried about Geno at the time, they have a dog door and I thought they would get out and run. I was worried about Harper my horse and Jethro, the donkey.

They couldn't get out of the corral. After we made sure that one of my neighbor's homes and Rick's home were prepared for defense, I went into the area and trailered the horse and donkey out. That was a relief. I went back and fought the fire."

After the blaze had blown over Ridge Road and was being contained by an extensive air attack, reality began to sink in. Charlie had the clothes on his back and some more at the fire station. Bretlyn didn't have anything but the clothes on her back. And even though a massive search was launched to find Geno, their Saint Bernard, he was never seen again.

One can't even imagine the sense of homelessness that the Schmidtmanns felt. They stayed in the fire station for a few days and then lived in a guest apartment of a friend for a couple months. Even though some emergency money was available, they didn't buy much because they didn't know where they stood with the insurance company.

A GoFundMe account allowed them to survive, purchase the items they needed to start to put their lives together and to prepare to rebuild.

"Even with the insurance money, we'll be upside down. People don't realize how much you need to rebuild. When we bought the house, it was insured for $260,000. To replace the house with the same size building will be double that, given the new building codes and the demand for subcontractors who can charge whatever they want. If I weren't a contractor, we would be in big trouble."

Charlie went to local subcontractors who were kind to the couple, charging reasonable costs: Caribou Plumbing and Peak to Peak electric. Fortunately, Baptists Church and Latter Day Saints sent groups out to help with cleaning the land. Firefighters and friends also jumped in to assist with the first steps to recovery.

The Schmidtmanns thought they would be further along than they are, but the weather, including the late three-foot spring snowfall set construction back. They are way behind their estimated finish date which has been set back to Christmas.

"Boulder County has dragged their heels," says Charlie, "And they charged $10,000 for the building permit. I don't get my road maintained, I do not have public water or sewer.

They call us disaster victims and then say I have to prove hardship to get a break on the permit."

Charlie's neighbor brought their belongings from Florida when their renters moved out, only to have them lost in the fire. They have discovered that it would be cost prohibitive to rebuild, but they are keeping the property. Wildflowers and grasses cover the burned area, but charred trees remain, standing like black skeletons against the sky.

The Schmidtmanns are waiting until they have a home again before they begin buying what they need. Charlie had to replace his tools.

Probably the most tedious part of recovery is the listing of what was lost. "You have to write out the age, model number and condition of every ladle, knife and coffee mug according to the policy set for replacement by state law. Then they write a check for the depreciated amount. So if you have a $100,000 policy, you will get a third, $33,000 to replace your belongs. First you have to shop and then send them receipts for the purchases. Then they send you a check."

While Charlie and Bretlyn work on rebuilding their home, they both have full-time jobs; Charlie, a building contractor and a paid firefighter and Bretlyn, an emergency room nurse. It is overwhelming. Both of them see destruction and devastation in their work, people in need. They never get a break, never have a chance to rest from dealing with others' pain as well as their own.

Charlie says, "Everybody has an opinion of what we should be doing. After a wildfire, people who have lost everything lose their momentum in life. All the things that mark achievements, baby albums, awards, countless projects accomplished, all gone."

When the house is completed, Charlie's priority is to get a comfortable bed and a good pillow. Bretlyn will begin to acquire kitchen stuff: pots and pans, matching plates and new forks instead of bent and rusty utensils from thrift stores. They are grateful for the donations that have gotten them through the past year, but they look forward to getting their own necessities, choosing what they want. Most of all to have their possessions in one spot instead of in various places, including in their cars and at the fire station.

"Make sure you are insured enough," says Charlie. "If we were better insured, we wouldn't be in this position. We didn't have enough replacement money. Also, I would have a better plan for the dogs, but I don't know what the solution is."

This time next year, the Schmidtmanns will be living in their new house. The next step is putting in the effort to making it their own home.

"It's been a hard year, but we'll get to the next step. Bretlyn says she wants their housewarming party to be on Super Bowl Day, a huge party to celebrate a new life.

That's her wish."

Of the eight houses destroyed in the Cold Springs Fire, three of which were the owners’ primary residence, Boulder County has issued five building permits for home rebuilds:

Five rebuilds of single family dwellings, with four homes being rebuilt currently.

One of the house permits was withdrawn and refunded.

One building permit was to replace a destroyed detached garage with a storage container, but the owner withdrew the permit.

Two smaller cabins, 576 square feet and 600 square feet were not primary residences for the owners, although one was a primary residence for a renter, and have not been rebuilt.

Additionally, Boulder County issued an additional building permit to replace 28 windows and a door to a house that experienced significant damage from the fire.

Following the Cold Springs fire, Boulder County changed the Land Use Code to give affected property owners more time, one year vs. six months, to rebuild without a Site Plan Review and only a building permit if they were rebuilding the same size/height and in the same location. Four of the five houses only needed a building permit to rebuild.

One required a Site Plan Review because the original, destroyed house was only 496 square feet, and the new owner chose to rebuild larger.

(Originally published in the July 6, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)