Broadmoor fire and smoke damage restoration in Colorado Springs

Broadmoor grew around a resort. In the 1880s, investors bought the Broadmoor Dairy and dammed Cheyenne Creek to make a lake for a planned hotel and casino; after early setbacks, the lake and casino were finished in 1897, and the Broadmoor hotel with its golf club opened in 1918. ^[1] By then the area was described as a fashionable suburb with large houses along Cheyenne Road. Broadmoor stayed outside the city for decades and was one of five suburbs annexed by Colorado Springs in 1980, an annexation the Colorado Supreme Court upheld in 1982.

Today the neighborhood mixes early-twentieth-century estates, mid-century ranches and large later homes, many on generous lots under mature trees. As it climbs onto Cheyenne Mountain, lots get steeper and the edge with wildland gets closer. Homes in the area often have extensive interior finishes, such as plaster walls, hardwood floors, custom cabinetry and millwork, stone fireplaces, and collections of art and furnishings.

The southwest side of Colorado Springs sits against Cheyenne Mountain and the foothills leading to Cheyenne Cañon, which carry forest and brush. Fire officials have for years described parts of this area, including Broadmoor Bluffs, as among the city's higher-risk wildland neighborhoods because of slope, fuel and housing density, and residents have taken part in evacuation drills. The area falls within what the city treats as its wildland-urban interface, where wildfire mitigation requirements apply to new construction. ^[3]

No fire on the scale of Waldo Canyon has reached Broadmoor, but small fires on Cheyenne Mountain and near Cheyenne Mountain State Park have prompted pre-evacuation notices nearby. For homeowners, that means two kinds of risk: a nearby wildfire sending smoke and ash into the house, and embers igniting decks, debris or vegetation close to it. Both are covered in the wildfire smoke damage page.

The fine finishes in many Broadmoor homes reward patience. Plaster is harder and less absorbent than drywall, so soot can often be removed from it more completely, but decorative plaster and old paint layers need testing before any cleaner is used. Stained and varnished millwork is cleaned with mild solutions and conditioned afterward; aggressive cleaners can dull or strip the finish. Stone fireplaces and walls are vacuumed and cleaned with products made for porous masonry, accepting that some natural stone may keep faint shading.

Custom cabinetry deserves attention inside and out, because the unfinished interiors absorb odor. Specialty paints, wallpapers and murals may need a conservator rather than a restoration crew. Ask the contractor to test a small, hidden area on each finish type and show you the result before working on visible surfaces. The soot removal page explains the dry-first sequence used on all of these.

Contents are often a larger part of a Broadmoor restoration than the structure. Oil paintings, works on paper, textiles, antique furniture, rugs, books and collections each need a different approach, and some need a conservator. A detailed inventory with photos is the starting point, both for care and for insurance. Valuable items are usually packed out and cleaned off-site in controlled conditions.

Discuss with your insurer whether scheduled items, such as fine art or jewelry listed separately on a policy, have their own claim process. The contents pack-out and cleaning page describes the general process.

Large houses behave differently in a fire. A fire in one wing may send smoke through the whole house along stairwells and open galleries, and high ceilings collect soot in places that are hard to reach. Multiple furnaces or zones mean multiple sets of ducts and filters to check. Basements and lower levels, often finished, can collect firefighting water.

That makes planning and containment more important. Contractors may restore the house in phases, sealing completed areas with plastic and keeping air filtration running to protect them. Ask for a written phase plan with a clear order of work, so you know which rooms will be usable when.

Hardwood floors, plaster, cabinetry and finished basements all react badly to water. After an interior fire, drying should start as soon as the house is released. Hardwood floors can often be dried with specialized mats if work starts early; plaster dries slowly and may lose its bond to lath if soaked. Finished basements need extraction and removal of wet carpet pad and lower drywall. See water damage from firefighting for the process.

Higher-value homes often carry policies with specific provisions for scheduled items, extended replacement coverage or matching finishes. Read your policy, or ask your agent, about how it handles finishes that must be matched, code upgrades for exterior work in the wildland-urban interface, and items such as art and jewelry. Document everything before cleaning, and keep receipts for temporary housing.

The guide working with your insurance adjuster covers how to prepare for the adjuster's visit and how to work through disagreements about scope.

Wildfire gets the attention on the southwest side, but most house fires anywhere start indoors. Cooking is the leading cause of home fires nationally, according to NFPA, and large kitchens with commercial-style ranges, double ovens and warming drawers are common in Broadmoor homes. ^[2] A grease fire on a professional range can coat a kitchen and an open family room with protein residue in minutes. Heating equipment, fireplaces and electrical faults are other common causes, especially in older houses where wiring has been extended over the decades.

Attached and detached garages bring their own risks: vehicles, stored fuel, lawn equipment and, increasingly, lithium-ion batteries in tools, bikes and cars. A garage fire produces heavy, oily soot and often damages the room above or beside it. The smoke damage cleanup and odor removal pages describe how those residues are handled.

Many older homes in the area have more than one wood-burning fireplace, often with original masonry chimneys. A cracked flue liner, a creosote build-up, a stuck damper or a downdraft on a windy day can push soot into a room without any fire escaping. Soot from fireplaces is usually dry and concentrates on the mantel, the wall above it, nearby ceilings and fabrics. A chimney fire can also damage the flue and the framing around it, which is a structural concern beyond cleaning.

Have the chimney inspected before the next use, and clean the room with dry methods first. Stone and brick surrounds need masonry-appropriate cleaning, and painted or plastered walls above the firebox may need sealing if the stain persists.

Fire weather on the southwest side follows the regional pattern: the driest, windiest stretches of late winter and spring, early summer before the afternoon thunderstorms arrive, and dry spells in autumn. Strong downslope winds off Cheyenne Mountain can carry embers from a small fire well ahead of the flames. Smoke from fires elsewhere in the state often settles along the foothills on calm mornings.

Interior fires peak in the heating season, when fireplaces, furnaces and space heaters are in use and holiday cooking and decorations add risk. Restoration in winter means planning for an unheated, possibly open house; in summer it means drying wet areas before warmth speeds mold growth.

Whether a family can stay in a large house during restoration depends on how far smoke traveled and whether the utilities are safe. In a big house with damage confined to one wing, it is sometimes possible to seal off the work area with plastic barriers and negative air pressure and live in the rest. In other cases, especially with heavy smoke through shared air systems or work involving lead paint, relocating is the safer choice.

If you stay, agree with the contractor on which entrances crews will use, where equipment will be staged, how dust will be controlled and when noisy work will happen. If you relocate, keep receipts for temporary housing; many policies include coverage for additional living expenses when the house cannot be lived in.

Broadmoor-area homes often have stucco, stone or brick exteriors with tile or slate roofs, materials that resist fire better than wood or vinyl. They still show damage: stucco can crack and discolor from heat, stone and brick collect soot around windows and doors, and tile roofs can crack or have burned underlayment beneath intact tiles. Wood trim, eaves, decks and pergolas remain vulnerable.

Exterior cleaning of masonry and stucco uses low-pressure methods suited to each material; high-pressure washing can damage stucco and drive water into walls. Repairs to roofs and eaves in the wildland-urban interface may need to meet ignition-resistant requirements.

On the west side, Mountain Shadows shares the foothill wildfire exposure, with a very different, rebuilt housing stock. North of Broadmoor, Old Colorado City and the Old North End have even older homes with their own historic-material considerations.

Many Broadmoor-area properties have extensive outdoor living spaces: stone patios, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, pools and mature landscaping. After a wildfire or a nearby structure fire, these areas collect ash, and pools can fill with ash and debris that clog filters. Outdoor kitchens with built-in grills and gas lines need checking before use. Wood pergolas and furniture can scorch or burn.

Ash should be removed from patios and pool decks with damp methods rather than leaf blowers, and pool equipment should be serviced before running. ^[8] Mature trees exposed to heat may be damaged in ways that are not obvious at first; an arborist can assess whether they are safe.