Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  A group of about 25 people gathered at the Nederland Community Center to discuss and learn about how residents who lost their homes in the Cold Springs Fire last summer have recovered and what challenges they have had to deal with.

Garry Sanfacon, the Disaster Recovery Manager for Boulder County, facilitated the meeting. Questions were directed at two residents who have successfully rebuilt their homes after the Fourmile Canyon Fire. Generally they offered these tips: Check insurance to make sure you have all the rebuild processes covered; mitigate property, inventory personal possessions, embrace living in a meadow, ask for help and counseling support.

Some property owners whose homes survived the fire have had their wells go dry, become clogged with sediment. Hummer Drive residents experienced that their wells went dry several weeks after the fire and their insurance companies are not paying to have the wells fixed. A Hummer Drive resident had to hydrofrack it.

Residents also noticed that their grass is not coming back in the burned areas. One Fourmile Fire survivor said he planted 200 seedlings after the fire and hand-watered them, but they died over the winter from a lack of water. It was suggested that property owners put in trees that are three feet and balled in burlap. Replanting may be iffy, but it will give the inevitable weeds some competition. Hydroseeding doesn't work well at this altitude. For more information contact: Sharon Bokan, CSU Extension, Boulder County, 303-678-6176; sbokan@bouldercounty.org, http://www.extesion.colostate.edu/boulder/acreage.shtml.

Wildfire Partners can offer $3,500 or 50 percent of the total cost of revegetation. A video may be seen at http.//222.2ildfirepartners.org/videos/.

A few survivors asked how to deal with ashes blowing over everything, saying when the strong, constant winds came up, the ash blew into the house through cracks in the window and doors. They were told there was nothing to do about that, it would get better with time.

Cold Spring Fire residents are also concerned about burned standing dead trees that will present a hazard down the road. They were told that they should have a forester look at the trees to determine if a tree is a alive or not. It can take three-five years to know for sure if the tree survived.

The timeline to rebuild has been extended by the Boulder County Commissioners from six months to one year and residents need to apply only for a building permit, not a Site Plan Review.

Building permits for structures undergoing major repair work or being rebuilt may have the permit fee reduced by 25 percent if: the structures are the same size or smaller than existed before the fire; the total floor area is under 2,500 square feet and must have proof that the damage occurred because of the fire.

Property owners considering taking more time to rebuild, can keep the residential classification in place for up to two years after the destruction or up to five subsequent tax years if the assessor determines there is evidence that the owns intends to rebuild.

A Sunshine Canyon resident was one of 28 property owners who lost their homes in a two mile stretch during the Fourmile fire. He told the group he head been told that his land, buried under eight inches of ash, would be sterile.

"But the spring after the fire wildflowers came up all over the moonscape." He also advised the group that mulching helps to keep the ground from eroding and to hold the water, allowing it to seep into the ground.

After a disaster like a a wildfire, it is often the community will come together to help one another. One fire survivor suggested, "Everything seems to be about making lists of what you lost. You should also get together and realize what you have not lost."

One of the challenges of recovering from a disaster is fatigue. Not only do the survivors have to continue with their work life and their family, they now have the full-time job of talking to insurance people, county people, building people, landscaping people; not just rebuilding their homes, but also rebuilding their lives.

A resident who was the second to receive a certificate of occupancy, 10 months after the fire, said that they were in the new house, but, "It is so not over. There is so much to do just to take care of ourselves. There is so much demand for immediacy."

After rebuilding their home, one family discovered that they had no money to buy furniture. They had used it all up in the rebuild.

"We went to thrift stores and yard sales and found out we didn't need all the stuff we had before the fire."

These people suggested having someone evaluate what it would cost to rebuild your house, including debris removal, surveys, structural engineers and landscapers. Does insurance cover a new well? A new septic system?