Mountain Shadows fire damage restoration

The Waldo Canyon Fire started on June 23, 2012, in the Pike National Forest west of the city. For three days it burned in steep terrain. On the afternoon of June 26, strong, erratic winds pushed it over the ridges and down into Mountain Shadows, Peregrine and Oak Valley Ranch. Flames moved from house to house, driven by wind and embers rather than by a single advancing front. By the time the fire was contained on July 10, it had burned 18,247 acres, destroyed 346 homes and killed two residents. More than 32,000 people from Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and Woodland Park had been evacuated.

Many more homes in the neighborhood were damaged without being destroyed. Houses next to burned lots had cracked windows, melted siding and vents, scorched fences and decks, and interiors filled with smoke and ash. Colorado Springs Utilities shut off gas to about 4,200 undamaged homes as a precaution, and crews restored service door to door, checking meters, purging lines and relighting pilots. ^[3] That combination of total losses, heat-damaged neighbors and widespread smoke damage is the pattern restoration contractors still associate with this part of the city.

The burn scar also changed the landscape above the neighborhood. With vegetation gone, rain ran off faster, and the fire raised the risk of flash floods and debris flows into parts of the city for years afterward. Today, much of the vegetation has regrown, which means fuel is building again.

Mountain Shadows was built mostly from the 1980s onward as a suburban hillside neighborhood: two-story wood-frame houses, many with walk-out basements on sloping lots, attached garages, decks facing the views and forced-air gas furnaces. After 2012, hundreds of homes were rebuilt within a few years. Rebuilt houses often use more ignition-resistant materials on the outside, such as fiber-cement siding, Class A roofing and screened vents, while their interiors are similar to other modern houses: drywall, carpet and engineered flooring, open main floors. ^[4]

Those details shape restoration. Open floor plans let smoke fill the whole main level from a single kitchen fire. Walk-out basements collect firefighting water from above. Decks and the exterior walls behind them are the parts of the house most often damaged by embers or radiant heat in a wildfire, even when the roof survives. Steep driveways and narrow streets can make it harder to stage equipment, which a contractor will want to know about on the call.

Mountain Shadows sits inside the area the City of Colorado Springs treats as its wildland-urban interface, the zone where homes meet wildland vegetation. The city requires wildfire mitigation measures for new construction in that zone, set out in its fire code and in an ignition-resistant construction design manual. The fire department publishes a wildfire risk map where residents can look up an address, and a wildfire mitigation unit that works with neighborhoods on fuel reduction.

For restoration, the main effect is on rebuilding. If fire damage requires replacing roofing, siding, decks, vents or windows, the replacement work may have to meet ignition-resistant requirements. That is worth discussing with your contractor before materials are chosen, and with your insurer if you have coverage that applies to code requirements. Repairs beyond cleaning generally need building permits from the regional building department; your contractor should explain which apply.

Smoke work in the neighborhood falls into two groups. Interior house fires produce the familiar pattern: heavy soot near the source, a thinner film throughout the house, and odor carried by the furnace. Wildfires produce a lighter but more widespread pattern of fine ash and odor, often heaviest in the attic, the garage and the rooms facing the fire. The same house can see both over its lifetime.

Either way, the approach starts with air filtration and dry methods: HEPA vacuuming and dry soot sponges before any wet cleaning, with the furnace fan off until filters are changed. The pages on smoke damage cleanup and wildfire smoke damage explain each in detail. Homes with vaulted ceilings, which are common here, need taller access equipment and careful cleaning to avoid streaks on large drywall surfaces.

Exterior damage is more common here than in flatter parts of the city because of exposure to wildfire heat and embers. Wood decks, fences, and the siding and trim behind them are the most vulnerable parts. Vinyl siding, window frames, gutters and vent covers can deform from radiant heat without catching fire. Embers that land in gutters or on debris against the house can ignite small fires that scorch walls.

After a wildfire, look for melted or warped vinyl, scorched wood, cracked or crazed window glass, damaged vent screens and debris in gutters. Photograph it for your insurer. Replacement materials for exterior repair may need to meet current ignition-resistant standards, so talk through options with the contractor and, if needed, the building department.

Colorado Springs Utilities supplies gas, electricity and water in the city. After a single-home fire, the fire department or utility may shut off gas and power to the house; after a wildfire, whole areas may be shut off. The 2012 experience showed how slow restoring gas can be: crews must visit each home, check the meter for leaks, purge air from the lines, relight appliances and test them, and they need someone at the house to let them in.

Plan restoration work around those visits. If the furnace or water heater was near the fire or exposed to water, have it inspected before it is relit. If you ever smell gas, leave the house and call the utility from outside.

Neighborhood experience after 2012 taught many residents the value of a home inventory and good documentation. If your home is damaged, photograph everything before cleaning, keep receipts for temporary housing and supplies, and ask the restoration contractor for a written scope. For wildfire losses, Colorado's Division of Insurance publishes guidance on policyholder protections, including living-expense coverage and contents inventory rules for declared wildfire disasters.

The guide working with your insurance adjuster explains how to prepare for the adjuster's visit. If code requirements apply to the rebuild because of the wildland-urban interface, ask your insurer how they are handled under your policy.

Hundreds of houses in the neighborhood are now ten or more years old in their second life. Rebuilt homes generally have newer wiring, plumbing and HVAC systems than the houses they replaced, which can make restoration simpler: fewer surprises behind the walls, and no older materials such as lead paint to work around. Many also have tighter construction, with better-sealed windows and doors, which helps keep wildfire smoke out but also means smoke from an interior fire has fewer ways to escape and lingers longer without ventilation.

Ignition-resistant exterior materials perform well against embers, but they are not immune to heat. Fiber-cement siding can crack or discolor, and metal or composite trim can warp. Interior finishes in rebuilt homes, such as engineered flooring, large drywall surfaces and painted trim, respond to smoke the same way as in any modern house. For owners, the useful detail is to keep records of the materials and products used in the rebuild, which helps a contractor match them if repairs are needed later.

Wildfire risk in the foothills is highest in late spring and early summer, when vegetation is dry before the summer monsoon rains, and again on dry, windy days in autumn and winter. The Waldo Canyon Fire came in late June. Strong downslope winds in the cooler months can also carry a small fire quickly. Interior house fires happen year round, but heating season brings more fires involving furnaces, fireplaces and space heaters.

Season matters for restoration too. In winter, an open, unheated house can freeze, so board-up and temporary heat become priorities. In summer, a closed, wet house warms quickly, which speeds mold growth if firefighting water is not dried promptly.

Hillside lots change how water and air move through a house. In a walk-out home, the lower level is partly below grade on the uphill side and fully exposed on the downhill side, so firefighting water collects against the buried foundation wall where it dries slowly. Contractors usually remove the lower part of drywall along those walls and run dehumidifiers until the concrete reads dry. Odor tends to rise to upper floors and lofts, where warm air collects, so those spaces are checked carefully during odor removal.

Mountain Shadows shares its wildfire exposure with other neighborhoods along the western edge of the city. Broadmoor, on the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain on the southwest side, faces similar foothill risk. Old Colorado City, south of Garden of the Gods, has much older houses and a very different restoration picture. To the north and east, Black Forest is the other neighborhood most associated with a major local wildfire.