Despite Browns efforts to help the victims, thefire recovery was stalling out.
Brown was desperate for a way to do more.
What happened next is one of the rare disaster recovery success stories in recent U.S. history.
Colorado state representative Kyle Brown stands in a neighborhood under reconstruction after the Marshall Fire tore through the Boulder suburbs in 2021.© Eli Imadali / Grist
This legislative success wasnt thanks to any political horse-trading or inspiring rhetoric on Browns part.
I didnt even know where City Hall was before the fire, Somauroo told Grist.
It just became this narrative of, the survivors versus everyone else.
And you know, little by little, we started identifying problems that way.
It feels really good to be listened to, said Somauroo.
Still, not everyone is happy.
You had a very unbalanced legislature, which unfortunately allows for a lot more to be passed.
she said, referring to the large Democratic majorities in both chambers.
The group didnt end up endorsing the bill, but it didnt come out against it, either.
The Marshall Fire victims secured a far bigger legislative response than the victims of past Colorado fires.
If you have more resources, you have more time to invest in the recovery effort, said Amabile.
There was some pushback, like, all these rich people in Boulder are getting all this stuff.
But they were a force.
They really made stuff happen for themselves.
There were no lobbyists, theres no big money running these bills, said Brown.
We got this done through sheer community advocacy.
A previous version of this article misspelled Tawnya Somauroos last name.
This story was originally published byGrist.
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