DRAKE, Colo. — Neighborhoods tucked away on Storm Mountain are usually quiet, but were full of activity in the past few weeks as firefighters worked to control the 9,668-acre Alexander Mountain Fire, which scorched dozens of homes before it reached near-containment this week . Now, volunteers buzz around to clean up debris and help the residents who lost their homes.
Garrett Hansen, who moved to the area in 2015, knows the feeling well. In a house fire in March, he lost two dogs and a cat.
“So when I heard about the Alexander (Mountain) Fire I said, ‘I will not go through that again and I’m going to do everything I can to help,'” Hansen said.
That led him to put out a call to action for neighbors, who also wanted to assist by pulling together resources and coordinating to remove rubble and rebuild. A Facebook group brought those people together for an initial meeting, where more than 50 people showed up.
Neighbors come together to clean up debris from Alexander Mountain Fire
“It’s been unbelievable — to see everybody come out of the woodwork to help out. It’s just been great,” Hansen said. “Everybody is here to help and everybody has the same goal here — to rebuild.”