GREELEY, Colo. — The death of a woman experiencing homelessness in a Greeley grass fire on Saturday is sparking demands for more shelter resources in the city, where advocates say options are extremely limited.
Family members are identifying 45-year-old Dizarae O'Toole-Ochoa as the victim of the vegetation fire near the Highway 34 and Highway 85 interchange in Greeley. The woman's partner was also badly hurt in the fire and is in the hospital in critical condition, according to the Greeley Police Department.
Tammy McKee, the mother of the victim, said her daughter had recently moved to a homeless encampment with her partner near the highway when the fire tore through the area. The Greeley Fire Department said the flames burned about 15 acres. Investigators said they're looking into whether a microburst that bent power poles in the area sparked the blaze.
"My daughter was a beautiful woman. She cared about a lot of people," McKee said. "She was struggling with addiction, but then here in the last month, she had gotten clean. She started going to church."
McKee, who used to be homeless herself, said she saw her daughter several times a week and gave her what she could, like deodorant, shampoo or towels.
"She'd come and stay if she needed," McKee said. "I didn't have money to give her. So I give her what she needs and my love. All my love."
McKee said she believes more shelter options for women in Greeley could have given her daughter a second chance, and maybe saved her life.
"I just want resources here so these people can get off the streets before somebody else dies," McKee said.
Bridgette, the founder of NoCo Friends of Faith, a Greeley-based nonprofit that serves people in need in Northern Colorado, said she met O'Toole-Ochoa while feeding people on the streets.
"She would call me every time she needed something, anytime she just needed resources," Bridgette said.
Bridgette said she believes Greeley's camping ban, which was passed in June 2025, has left people experiencing homelessness with few safe options for shelter. She said the city has a lack of overnight shelter options for people, especially women.
While the United Way Housing Navigation Center Shelter on 28th Street in Greeley offers daytime services to all, its overnight beds are reserved for men only. Bridgette said the Samaritan House Greeley, the only shelter in Weld County that provides services to single adults and families, is too far north for many people in the city to access.
"Women need help, and they're just not receiving it," Bridgette said. "It's just a shame. It's a shame what's happening here."
Her nonprofit is raising money to open an overnight shelter for men and women, but she said funding remains the biggest obstacle.
"It's a challenge. It's a big challenge that we're just facing right now, and we're hoping to get something through before November. Honestly, before it gets cold," Bridgette said.
Joshua Becker, who used to be homeless, now gives free haircuts to people living on the streets in Northern Colorado. He said the permanent closure of the Loveland Resource Center in April left even more people turning to Greeley for help.
"I used to shower there every day," Becker said. "Them closing their shelter really affected these guys out here, and women, and children."
He said he believes more resources for people living on the streets in Greeley could help prevent tragedies in the future.
"The city especially should be out here providing more opportunity than they are," Becker said.
Denver7 reached out to the City of Greeley to get a response to community concerns about homelessness and the city's ordinance banning unauthorized camping on public and private property. We also asked if city leaders have seen an increase in unhoused individuals in the city since the closure of the Loveland Resource Center. We are still waiting to hear back.
McKee said she and others in the community are ready to be part of the solution.
"We're willing to go in and volunteer," McKee said. "I'm more than willing to do anything, just so they don't have to be like my daughter."
