Sense Of Community Leads High Park Fire Victim To Rebuild
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The High Park Fire was one of the worst fires this summer in Colorado. The lightning-caused wildfire burned more than 87,000 acres and destroyed 257 homes. Now, as homeowners work to rebuild, they face tough obstacles.
But people came together to help in the face of destruction, and one man who is in the process of rebuilding his home says it was the same sense of community which led him to rebuild.
David Cantor was one of those who lost their homes in the High Park Fire.
"It had a big wrap-around deck, hot tub, great room, lots of windows," Cantor said.
His 2,000 square foot home was reduced to rubble and ash.
"There was nothing left," he said. "The only thing left was the metal."
On June 11, just two days after the fire began, Cantor watched from the banks of Horsetooth Reservoir as the flames devoured his house.
"Sat up there with all my neighbors and scoped out everybody's house, and every one of them was gone," he said.
Now, months later, the process of rebuilding has begun. When asked why he was returning, Cantor simply said it was because of his neighbors. Through the devastation and the trying months following the fire they had each other to rely on. It's a small, tight-knit community coming together once again despite so much adversity.
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"Maybe it was a place to go have a home-cooked meal, or a even a shoulder to cry on, that's how we supported each other," he said.
Cantor hopes to be in his new house by November of next year.
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