Taylor Korn, and her roommate, Jorge Zaragoza, with their dogs Gerti (left) and Gidget. The third dog is Scarlett, a rescue dog and mother of two other puppies, who belonged to Korn’s friends and was elsewhere during the fire.
Taylor Korn
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Taylor Korn
Taylor Korn, and her roommate, Jorge Zaragoza, with their dogs Gerti (left) and Gidget. The third dog is Scarlett, a rescue dog and mother of two other puppies, who belonged to Korn’s friends and was elsewhere during the fire.
Taylor Korn
Taylor Korn spent most of Thursday afternoon in tears as she struggled to accept the fact that everything she once owned was now gone. Among the lost items were two urns containing her parents’ ashes, her birth certificate, irreplaceable family photos along with all her clothes and personal belongings. Inside the house were two 6-month-old puppies that could not be saved.
The Marshall Fire, which broke out in Boulder County, Colo., late that morning, took everything away.
Korn, 28, a native of Boulder, was working as a bartender in Boulder when a friend sent her a video of the smoky sky south of the city. At first, she was not flustered. Having spent her life in Colorado, she was used to the news of a fire breaking out.
About an hour later, her landlord called.
“You need to get out of the house,” the host told her.
Korn immediately thought of her two puppies, Gerti and Gidget, who were at home in their crate 6 kilometers away. When he realized that his two roommates weren’t there to save the dogs, Korn jumped in his car and started running home.
On any other day, the drive would take about 10 minutes. But the highway was closed, forcing her to take a series of reverse roads, eventually going one dead end after another.
“I just kept driving around trying to find a way that I could get close enough to walk there and get my dogs and put them back in the car. It was just impossible,” Korn said. She tried calling the neighbors, but to no avail. Even her landlord who lived nearby couldn’t reach the house. “I had to go back to work and just wait.”
She spent the rest of the day crying behind the bar, her eyes glued to the TV as she watched the fire grow. Korn thought about how if the fire had only happened the day before, when she was at work and at home, she could have saved the dogs. As her shift at the bar ended at 5 p.m., her landlord called again, this time in tears.
The house is gone.
“It’s just weird. It’s not like my life,” Korn said. “It feels like there’s no way, absolutely no way, that could happen.”
What remains of Taylor Korn’s house in Louisville, Colo. She lost her parents’ ashes, irreplaceable family photos, her birth certificate and more. She also lost two puppies trapped at home in the fire.
Broomfield Animal Services
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What remains of Taylor Korn’s house in Louisville, Colo. She lost her parents’ ashes, irreplaceable family photos, her birth certificate and more. She also lost two puppies trapped at home in the fire.
Broomfield Animal Services
Growing up in Boulder, Korn was no stranger to wildfires. She knows friends who grew up losing their homes. Now it happened to her. And the fires usually happen in the summer, never in the winter, she said.
She had only been in the house for a little over a year and a half, but it felt like home. She shares a house with two friends she’s known since high school and it’s usually packed with friends. They considered holding a New Year’s Eve party there, until the latest coronavirus surge canceled their plans.
Korn has no family. Her mother passed away five years ago, and her father and grandmother passed away over a month this past summer. All she had left, she explained, were her friends, her dogs, and her rental house. And the fire took two of them from her.
Korn’s home was one of about 1,000 homes lost to the fire – including more than 500 in Louisville. Colorado officials say the fire has consumed an estimated 6,000 acres and engulfed entire subdivisions.
According to the Boulder County sheriff, at least three people were missing and likely dead as of Saturday.
Officials first thought the fire might have been started by a cut power cord, a Boulder Office of Emergency Management announced said, but the power company did not find any downed lines in the area. As of Saturday, the cause of the fire was unknown and the investigation is continuing.
The flames spread unbelievably fast, driven by high winds with gusts above 100 mph. Governor Jared Polis called the fire a “catastrophe in fast motion,” allowing residents just a few minutes to pack up their belongings before evacuating.
The Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colo., has burned about 6,000 acres and displaced 35,000 people. About 1,000 homes were lost.
Jack Dempsey / AP
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Jack Dempsey / AP
The Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colo., has burned about 6,000 acres and displaced 35,000 people. About 1,000 homes were lost.
Jack Dempsey / AP
As for Korn, she has only what she wears to work Thursday morning: a pair of jeans, a pair of dirty shoes and a work shirt, along with a wallet, cell phone and car her breath.
Friends and colleagues approached her, offering her everything from clothing and bedding to groceries and cash. But she hesitated to accept their help.
“It’s hard for me to take people’s things. I can’t ask for help … and then people just give me cash and I don’t want it,” she said. “I’m so proud of how far I’ve come in this life without literally any help, but it’s been tough.”
She went to a Salvation Army thrift store Friday morning to buy new clothes to wear to work. The store was empty and uncomfortably quiet. She walked the aisles without knowing where to start. It felt surreal when she bought her first shirt of the rest of her life. Heartbroken and homeless, she wasn’t sure what the new year would bring.
Korn admits her situation isn’t completely serious yet. It was difficult for her to understand the concept of nothing. She is staying with her childhood friend, Claire Gritton, in an apartment in Boulder until she can find a place to stay.
Gritton teamed up with two of Korn’s friends, Sara Salakari and Sam Swoboda, to raise funds through the GoFundMe page for Korn to start over. They knew Korn was reluctant to accept help, but they also knew how important the money would be to her ability to start over.
“[Korn] “She’s always been there for others, and she deserves all that she’s given to others,” says Gritton.
So far, three friends have raised more than $13,000 to get Korn to start from scratch. The funds will help her find a new place to live and replace essentials; to start.
Korn was one of 35,000 people to be evacuated, according to Boulder County Community Foundation. The burn area remains closed with residents awaiting action from first responders, who are working to secure the scene. More information about the fire and where to send donations to the victims can be found at Website of the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.
