1 ## Black Forest Fire 2013 ##
3 Our home which was the hosting site for gag.com fell victim to forest fire on
4 or about 11 June 2013. Our house was <em>very</em> close to where the fire
5 started, so we had very little warning and feel very lucky to have escaped
6 with our lives, our pets, and a few of our most precious possessions. This was
7 the second really significant forest fire in the Colorado Springs area in less
8 than one year, and is the worst fire in Colorado history in terms of
9 structure loss... the count of destroyed homes is over 500.
13 For those of you who have asked how you can help us restore and rebuild,
14 thank you. We are working on several wishlists and a registry of items we
15 need in the short term. Please watch this space as we will update the list
16 of lists and the contents of the lists as we find more time to work on them.
17 Here's what we have so far:
19 * [Crate and Barrel Registry](http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Elizabeth-Garbee/r5059713) *COMPLETELY FULFILLED*
20 * [Bed Bath & Beyond Registry](http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regGiftRegistry.asp?wrn=-280550117&) *COMPLETELY FULFILLED*
21 * [Amazon Wish List](http://amzn.com/w/2UTFPG4214HV4) *COMPLETELY FULFILLED*
23 Many of the others in Black Forest who lost homes actually need help much
25 we do. The [Pikes Peak Community Foundation](http://www.ppcf.org)
27 [emergency relief fund](http://www.ppcf.org/products/emergency-relief)
28 that specifically benefits victims of this fire.
30 If you'd rather send money to help us rebuild, PayPal transfers to
31 bdale@gag.com may be the easiest way to do that.
33 We are also deeply indebted to the three local fire departments that we know
34 were directly fighting the fire on and around our property:
36 * <a href="http://www.bffire.org">Black Forest Fire/Rescue</a>, the
37 department that serves us directly and were likely first on the
39 * <a href="http://www.wescottfire.org">Wescott Fire Protection District</a>,
40 an adjacent district whose personnel were fighting the fire literally
41 along the edges of our driveway when we tried to drive out, and who
42 ended up walking us out through the already-burned area to safety.
43 * <a href="http://www.falconfirepd.org">Falcon Fire Protection District</a>,
44 whose members showed us immense generosity in the days following the
48 * 2014 February 19<br>Building permits issued!
49 * 2014 February 7<br>While visiting the site for other reasons, Bdale observed
50 that [Mountain View Electric](www.mvea.coop) has installed a new
51 transformer, riser, and meter base on the last electric pole on our
53 * 2014 January 22<br>After some iteration between the architect and engineers,
54 we now have a complete working plan set with engineering stamps on
55 the way to Regional for issuance of building permits.
56 * 2013 December 16<br>Got our "last" set of questions answered by our
57 contractor, and signed the contract for constuction of our new house.
58 * 2013 December 10<br>Met with contractor to review cost estimates for our
59 revised plan. We're within budget now, so gave him the go-ahead to
61 * 2013 November 25<br>Met with contractor and architect to deliver our
62 proposed updates to the plan and discuss. We're actually happier
63 with the revised design, they both seem to like what we proposed,
64 and everyone is optimistic it will come in within budget.
65 * 2013 November 18<br>Met with our contractor to discuss costs. Not too
66 surprisingly in hindsight, what we designed would cost more to build
67 than we are prepared to spend. Back to the drawing board, literally!
68 * 2013 November 2<br>Met with our contractor to provide information he needs
69 to put cost estimates together for us in parallel with waiting for
70 structural engineering work to be completed.
71 * 2013 October 21<br>After several iterations, we now have floor plans and
72 elevations that accurately represent what we'd like to build.
73 * 2013 September 19<br>First draft of main floor plan received from the
74 architect we're working with.
75 * 2013 August 16<br>Demoliton work completed. The remains of our house, shed,
76 and greenhouse are now gone.
77 * 2013 July 26<br>The remains of the two cars that burned were removed from
78 our property and sold as scrap metal.
79 * 2013 July 21<br>After a week spent interviewing contractors who might help us
80 build a new house, we made a decision! We'll be working with Doug
81 Strecker, dba <a href="http://www.rampartcustomhomes.com/">Rampart
82 Custom Homes</a>. At his suggestion, we'll be using David Woody as
83 the architect tasked with turning our sketches into working plans.
84 * 2013 July 4<br>all web sites formerly hosted returned to normal
85 * 2013 July 3<br>gag.com web presence returns to normal
86 * 2013 June 28<br>gag.com mail service returns to normal
87 * 2013 June 20<br>Intenet service connected in the apartment
88 * 2013 June 18<br>First night sleeping in the apartment
89 * 2013 June 17<br>Started populating the apartment, almost entirely with
90 donated things. Initial registry links posted for things we could
91 use immediately to re-establish ourselves in the apartment
92 * 2013 June 15<br>Signed lease on 2-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs.
93 * 2013 June 11<br>House destroyed by forest fire
95 <center><IMG SRC="bfs.png" width="300" height="300"></center>
97 We're not sure who created the original artwork, but thanks to Eric and the
99 [Black Forest Automotive](http://blackforestauto.com)
100 for the cool bfs.png!