Cleanup

October 15th

We decide to work with Steve, an architect friend who helped design our original home.  We love some of his very creative house designs.  Hopefully, we are in good hands.

A distant neighbor, Pat, who is a building contractor, lost his house in the fire.  He is coordinating cleanup in our area and it makes sense to go with someone local.  We attend various big meetings with officials from Boulder County who are trying (in a semi-bureaucratic way) to be as helpful as they can.

We learn that the State of Colorado has decided that the debris from our burnt houses is to be considered hazardous because of the risk of asbestos.  This is a blanket decision that requires special precautions and expensive transportation to distant dumps.  First all the metal from the house (roofing, furnace, appliances, etc.) is removed, washed down and sent to recycling.  Then the general ash and debris is cleaned up.  Finally the concrete foundation has to be disposed of.

There is some confusion about the concrete.  A difficult and contentious neighbor has agreed to take the concrete, for a price, to use around his mine site.  After a few loads, he starts to raise his price and make additional demands.  The agreement falls through.  We work with Pat to find an appropriate place on our own land to bury the concrete.  It will form the foundation for a new workshop.

Things are starting to move slowly forward.