NEDERLAND, Colo. — Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Congressman Joe Neguse spent some time in Nederland Friday, speaking with business owners and employees impacted by the Caribou Village Shopping Center fire.
"I know we had a chance, and I'm grateful for the opportunity that the governor and I had to visit with some of the business owners and the residents here who've been impacted," Neguse said. "It is hard to overstate the impact that this tragedy has had and will have on this community in the days and weeks and months ahead."
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office said a deputy on routine patrol spotted the fire at the Caribou Village Shopping Center, located at 20 Lakeview Drive, around 3:41 a.m. Thursday. The deputy notified dispatch, and the Nederland Fire Rescue, along with other agencies, responded to the scene.
An evacuation was issued for residents and businesses along the southern and western portions of Barker Reservoir around 4:28 a.m. That evacuation order was lifted around 9:47 a.m.
Local
Nederland business owners devastated by early morning shopping center fire
According to the sheriff's office, the two-story structure of businesses along the south side of the shopping center was fully engulfed in flames and sustained the most significant damage.
The Carousel of Happiness, located on the west side of the center, sustained minor damage. Nearby businesses, including Train Cars Coffee and Kava and B&F Market, were also spared from major damage, according to BCSO.
In an update Friday, the sheriff's office announced it had established a phone number and email address for community members to submit any information they may have pertaining to how the fire at the shopping center started.
"We're asking the public, if you have any information that would help with this investigation, that you either email BCSOtips@bouldercounty.gov or contact the phone number 303-441-3674," said BCSO public information officer Vinnie Montez.
Montez told Denver7 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) are working together to determine the origin and cause of the shopping center fire.
"They're going to be doing canvassing, interviews, research and reviewing submissions, as far as video and photographs that are submitted," Montez said.
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Investigators provide update on Caribou Village Shopping Center fire
In the meantime, the community is coming together to support impacted business owners and employees.
Dan Vollmer, who's lived in Nederland for more than five years, started a GoFundMe right after the fire. As of the publication of this article, it has collected more than $129,000.
Vollmer told Denver7 he's grateful the community was coming together to help those most in need.
"We have such a tight-knit community up here that when you have moments like that, you start to understand that you're not alone," he said. "I think yesterday, last night, was one of the first times that people really understood that, hey, we're in this together, and they could let the guard down. They felt safe to do that and to really just actually feel something."
Vollmer said he didn't know what to expect when he created the GoFundMe, but stressed it's likely more will need to be raised.
"To speak frankly, it's as it stands, we're just going to need more, because the reality of it is that you have 50 employees, 60 employees that are not going to have paychecks coming in," he said. "They're not going to have the ability to put food on the table because we can't replace what we lost in the next year. It's a very long road ahead, and we're going to be there for everybody while we can, but it's still going to be difficult."
