Grand Lake celebrates third festival honoring resilience after East Troublesome Fire
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GRAND LAKE, Colo. — Hundreds roared in applause as they celebrated Grand Lake’s comeback from Colorado’s second-largest wildfire at the third Troublesome Festival last week.
Five local bands and hundreds of attendees celebrated Grand Lake’s third Troublesome Festival, held each year since the East Troublesome Fire, which burned 193,812 acres and is Colorado’s second-largest wildfire in recorded history (2020's Cameron Peak fire, which burned 208,663 acres, is the largest).
“This is about bringing the community together to unite us all and remind us that that fire doesn’t define our community,” said Chris Bryan, a Grand Lake resident and volunteer at the festival.
“It’s more than that and it helps elevate our consciousness to think of others.”
The fire began Oct. 14 just east of Troublesome Creek in Grand County. A week later, after heavy winds, the fire grew to 100,000 acres and ripped through Grand Lake and into Rocky Mountain National Park.
By the time snow put out the fire two weeks later, two people — Lyle and Marilyn Hileman — died, and more than 400 houses and other structures were destroyed. Officials still do not know how the fire started.
Bryan said the festival is emblematic of the town’s identity and values — a tight-knit, small community where neighbors take care of each other. In the winter, residents help plow snow for each other and offer to bring groceries to one another, he said.
“We look out for each other here,” Bryan said. “I’m holding onto this place as long as I can and the community is a big reason for that.”
Grand County — which is home to 15,679 people — is made up of nine towns and no cities. Grand Lake, the town’s northernmost community, sits next to the western entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. The town’s restaurants and homes are spread around its namesake lake.
“I’d say even though our population is really spread out across the valley, I think people often come together to try and support each other and support whatever is going on in the community,” said Jay Puckett, a Frasier resident at the festival.
“That was certainly true during the fire and continues to be true.”
Those directly affected by the fire said evacuating their homes with little warning was “like a nightmare come true.”
“It was horrific,” said Janna Sampson, a full-time Grand Lake resident who grew up in town. “I sat all night long terrified that my house was going to burn down.”
Sampson’s home narrowly escaped the fire, but many of her neighbor’s homes burned down.
The county’s Office of Emergency Management texted residents in her neighborhood warning them to prepare for evacuation at 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 22. Twenty minutes later, as Sampson and her husband gathered their belongings and packed up their car, they received a more urgent “EVACUATE NOW” text.
The two left most of their belongings, jumped in the car and sped down Berthoud Pass to get to Denver as fast as possible. Samspon remembers listening to an emergency scanner all night as firefighters radioed which houses were destroyed.
“We didn’t know for two days whether our house was standing and it was traumatizing,” Samspon said. “But surely not as traumatizing as my neighbors who lost their homes.”
Many festival volunteers said they saw participating in the festival as a way to give back to their community.
“I don’t want to just sit in the crowd as an audience member,” said Catt Carr, a volunteer and Grand Lake resident who moved to town to help rebuild houses after the fire. “I want to be hands on, interactive and give back to the comm the way it's given back to me.”
Festival tickets cost $50. All of the proceeds are used to support Fire on the Mountain, a local nonprofit which opened in response to the fire. Fire on the Mountain raises money for fire mitigation and prevention education, as well as scholarships for high school students interested in pursuing careers in wildfire mitigation and fire fighting.
On Oct. 22, the night residents were forced to evacuate, Conners said she watched as cars filed down Berthoud Pass, heading to the Front Range and wondering whether their house would still be standing when they returned.
“When we got off of Berthoud Pass, I remember seeing all of these cars go different directions and thinking ‘where is everybody going? What are we doing?” Conners said. “We watched our entire community just flee and not know the outcome.”
When Conners returned from Denver weeks later, she learned her house burned down. She rented a home for the next two years from a vacation home owner, then bought a house in town.
Conners said the festival is held to celebrate the community’s healing efforts. While she believes grief and mourning are important, Conners wants to celebrate Grand Lake.
“It’s about celebrating our resiliency,” she said.