LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Sunflowers grow tall even in harsh conditions. One Louisville neighborhood that was destroyed in the Marshall Fire is now covered in these symbols of resilience three years later.
The wildfire sparked on December 30, 2021, and damaged or destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Superior, Louisville and Boulder County amid hurricane-force winds and extreme drought conditions.
“We feel much closer since we went through the same troubles that we never thought about before,” said Tad Pilinski, one of the many residents who lost everything in the Marshall Fire.
Three years and nearly seven months since that fire changed so many people's lives, many residents are finally back home.
“When you drive through the neighborhood, everything is new,” Pilinski noted.
On Thursday, the Louisville community put the fire even further in the past by reopening two beloved parks, Sunflower Park and Enclave Park.
“These were the two parks that were most heavily impacted by the Marshall Fire three and a half years ago,” said Adam Blackmore, City of Louisville director of parks, recreation, and open space.
The City of Louisville was able to restore the parks to their former glory thanks to a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado.
“It continues to just be kind of a beacon of realization of the tragedy that this community experienced, and the resilience and the toughness and the can-do attitude that comes along with trying to rebuild,” Blackmore said.
It's just another reminder of how the community continues to persevere.
“It’s part of the neighborhood, of course, and we used to see it every day. We used to live seven years before the fire, so it was part of the community,” Pilinski said. “So now it's good to have it back.”
