SUPERIOR, Colo. — The Town of Superior is officially planning a Marshall Fire remembrance site in an open space near the Oerman-Roche Trailhead off of McCaslin Boulevard.
Fueled by high winds, the fire started near that spot on December 30, 2021. It spread quickly, killing two people and destroying hundreds of homes.
“This was an important event,” Andrew Vaughan, chair of Superior’s Cultural Arts & Public Spaces (CAPS) Committee, told Denver7 Tuesday. “It doesn't define the town, but is a significant part of our history, and we'd like to have a place to remember and contemplate.”
Read Denver7's extensive coverage of the Marshall Fire and ongoing recovery here
Superior is taking contractor proposals for that place, now through Aug. 12.
Denver7 spoke with Vaughan two years ago, when public outreach began. Town officials spent that time, according to Vaughan, conducting in-person meetings and two large surveys, asking residents if they wanted a remembrance site or memorial, and what they wanted it to look like.
“The town told us loud and clear that they wanted some kind of remembrance for the Marshall Fire,” Vaughan said, explaining that the trailhead site is ideal, in part, because residents expressed interest in it in the surveys.
“It has a view of original town, which is where a lot of the impact in the town was,” Vaughan added. “It has a view of the grasslands, which is where the fire came from. And it is also both a shared place with parking, where this can be accessible, but it's also not right in anybody's backyard.”
The site is set, but there are still unknowns.
“We really don't know what this is going to cost,” Vaughan said. “We're going to see what kind of ideas people have for us, and then fundraise accordingly.”
The town’s Request for Qualifications shows it is seeking a place to gather, but also encouraging applications for a space to commemorate the hundreds of pets lost in the fire, as well as a dispersed component near the gathering place that “might consider inputs such as: residences and other structures lost; specific acts of heroism or bravery; statistics of damage, loss, evacuation, recovery, support, outreach; notable individuals; geography and scope of the fire; event timeline; etc.”
- You can read the entire Town of Superior's Request for Qualifications (RFQ) below:
“I think it should be what everyone individually needs,” Vaughan said. “We make a very open, accepting place for people to gather or reflect in solo. You know, we'll get the sunset, we'll get the view, and I think people can come here and let it mean whatever they need it to mean.”
Vaughan also said the community’s response encouraged the use of the word "remembrance" for the site, rather than "memorial."
“‘Memorial’ tends to imply death and destruction,” he said. “That's not the point here. The point is to remember and to move on.”
Vaughan hopes to see a remembrance in place by the fire’s fifth anniversary, which is Dec. 30, 2026.
Ryan Kohler and his home survived the Marshall Fire, but he remembers the chaos surrounding it and the community shining through it.
“Literally within hours, people were giving neighbors clothing, offering rides,” he recalled.
Kohler, head coach of the Monarch High School mountain bike team, said he’s pleased to hear there will be a site to remember how the fire changed the town and brought neighbors together.
“Just carrying that forward and remembering that like we are all connected as a community,” he said. “And just because we're back in our houses individually… those are still our neighbors out there.”
MORE COVERAGE: Denver7 Gives - Helping the community after the Marshall Fire
- Denver7 Gives donates $300,000 to A Precious Child to help Marshall Fire victims with housing needs
- Denver7 Gives delivers car to family that lost everything in the Marshall Fire
- Denver7 Gives surprises family of 7 with rent money for temporary housing after Marshall Fire
- Denver7 Gives helps Marshall Fire victim move into temporary housing
- Stories of kindness spread hope in the year after the Marshall Fire
