Homeowners gather to hear information about civil litigation to help…

With the Marshall Fire investigation having come to a close Thursday with no criminal charges to be filed, many homeowners are still searching for compensation for their losses.

Approximately 50 community members gathered in the Louisville Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon to hear from the Marshall Fire Attorneys, a team of experienced wildfire attorneys, about their options for filing a civil lawsuit against Xcel.

Jacqueline Kramer, whose Superior home burned down in the fire, said she wants to see someone held accountable for the fire.

“I’m in a good place, I’ll be in a better place when they have to pay,” Kramer said. “To me, it’s not even the money, it’s just — take responsibility (for) what you did.”

Although the district attorney’s investigation found that no crimes were committed, civil litigation can still find Xcel to be liable for the damages caused by the Marshall Fire, according to attorney Scott Maynor.

In civil litigation, the standard to prove that a party is liable is lower than that for criminal cases, according to Joshua Swigart, an attorney for the Marshall Fire Attorneys.

For Boulder County residents Fallon Voorheis-Mathews and her husband, Fleetwood Mathews, pursuing a lawsuit is the “only way” to navigate an expensive post-fire climate.

The couple is rebuilding their home, but expects their property taxes and insurance to increase.

“We didn’t ask for any of this, and can we now not afford to live in our house?” Voorheis-Mathews said.

The couple said they had an “OK” insurance policy, but they were still $250,000 underinsured. They see pursuing a lawsuit against Xcel as a way to get some of that money.

“It seems like the only way to try to find that $250,000 that we didn’t get covered by insurance,” said Mathews. “That’s sad; that’s a problem.”

Although community members hope for compensation for their economic losses, several expressed the fire took more from them than money could fix.

Mathews said his mother had given his wife, Fallon, a handmade necklace with her and her grandmother’s engagement rings in it.

“I don’t really care what an appraiser would say the value of that is, because it wouldn’t be enough,” Mathews said.

Others expressed the emotional toll of losing their homes.

“It’s a very empty feeling, when you lose everything you’ve had in your life,” Kramer said, recalling the day she fled from the fire. “I didn’t even have a pair of socks or a winter jacket.”

Voorheis-Mathews said she is still grieving the loss of her and her husband’s home.

“I don’t know that you ever actually heal. I don’t think it’s ever finished,” she said. “Some days I feel fine — and then some days some weird trigger happens, and you’re a puddle on the floor.”

Barbara Holub, who lost her Louisville home in the fire, said although the aftermath of the fire was hard on her and her husband’s marriage, she is hopeful for the future.

“We had to relearn what we even wanted,” she said. “Our marriage was definitely better before the fire, but it’s going to eventually recover completely. But it’s been a hard two years.”