By Mitchell Byars
Source Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
Boulder County Sheriff's Office Division Chief Curtis Johnson was supposed to have Dec. 30 off to celebrate his wife's birthday. But as winds tore through Boulder County and the Middle Fork Fire and then the Marshall Fire began burning on opposite ends of the county that morning, Johnson's plans were quickly curtailed.
"When the first fire kicked off, I got notified," Johnson said. "As soon as the second fire was started, I came to work."
Johnson set about working with emergency workers and helping to coordinate the county's response from the Emergency Operations Center, where crews began the process of evacuating thousands of people ahead of what would become the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history.
"We were just trying to manage resources, evacuations, figure out the status of both fires and what was going on, and trying to get people evacuated and out of harm's way as best we could," Johnson said.
But even as he worked to help others, Johnson was aware that the fire was moving toward his own home in Louisville. But like many, Johnson thought there was no way the fire would make it into east county neighborhoods.
"To be honest, I thought there was no way this will jump over (U.S) 36," Johnson said. "That's such a nice, big barrier. I didn't think for a moment that it would make it across the highway and into Louisville like that."
But soon the wind-swept fire did cross the highway, and Johnson's family grabbed a few items from the home and evacuated.
"Obviously as the fire got closer to Superior, we were starting to evacuate neighborhoods in Louisville, including mine," Johnson said. "I was still hopeful and optimistic that it would be OK. And then I got some texts from friends in the neighborhood saying their houses were gone, and I kind of had that sinking feeling that my house might be gone, too."
But Johnson was still working, and couldn't afford to let the concern about his own home distract him from his job. Like many other first responders who also lost their homes in this fire, Johnson had to find a way to keep his focus on the task at hand.
"I guess initially I just tried to stay optimistic that my house would be OK and not worry about it," Johnson said. "There's also nothing you can do when you know there are firefighters and other first responders that are doing everything they can to try and save property and keep people safe. There's, I guess, a sense of helplessness, but you can't let it impact your decision making and your focus on keeping going and doing your job."
It wasn't until the next day that Johnson and his family were able to drive by the home and confirmed it had been caught in the fire, one of more than 1,000 homes lost in the 6,000-acre fire.
"There's nothing," Johnson said.
Johnson was not the only member of law enforcement to lose his home in the fire. In fact, Louisville police Chief Dave Hayes also lost his home in the fire as he was helping his town deal with evacuations.
"Frankly, I really haven't had the urge to go back to the house. I was there just a few minutes that night," Hayes told the Colorado Sun. "At this point, I'm not sure I want to go back. It's part of those emotions."
That means both of the men currently running to replace outgoing Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle lost their homes in the same fire they will have to help others recover from should they be elected.
Speaking for himself, Johnson said it has only strengthened his resolve.
"I think I'm even more motivated now having lived through this experience," Johnson said. "It makes me more committed to making sure that our county has leadership in place to help address these kinds of events when they occur, because unfortunately they will occur again somewhere in our county."
For now, after a few days off to get back on his feet, Johnson said he is looking forward to being back to work.
"For my mental health, I need to get back to work and have some sense of normalcy in my life," Johnson said. "As soon as I have the fundamentals covered on my end, I will be ready to get back to work and help the sheriff's office and help the community recover."
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