SUPERIOR, Colo. — For Mark Benesh, losing 26 years of family memories inside his Rock Creek home doesn’t feel real.
"It is hard to believe that it happened. We didn’t think it was going to come up over the ridge. We thought we would be back that night," said Benesh.
Now, he and his family are living in a long-term rental, waiting for the day they can rebuild.
"I built this house, I am the original owner. None of this was here and now I have to do it again," said Benesh.
Over the weekend, Superior’s town government began discussing what the cleanup of all the debris looks like. In the next few weeks, it hopes to have a plan prioritizing which areas to clean first. Then begins the long and costly project.
"The estimates that we have seen right now are somewhere around $75,000 per lot, so it is significantly expensive to remove the debris," said Superior Mayor Pro Tem, Mark Lacis.
The cleanup could take up to a year to complete. For people who live near homes that burned down, there’s also concern over the ash in the neighborhood.
"The county did indicate as part of this clean up they are going to try and spray over those properties because it is going to be a multi-month process to remove the debris, spray a tacking down that will minimize the amount of blowing," said Superior trustee, Tim Howard.
Benesh knows the road to rebuild will take time, but he won’t stop until he can call this place home again.
"I couldn’t abandon it. I’ll start over," said Benesh.
For many families, the prospect of better days ahead is one of few things they’re still hanging on to.
