This week in Boulder has been a crazy one! Tuesday afternoon a fire started just behind our beloved Boulder Flatirons and not far from my South Boulder neighborhood. Within 4 hours of the fire starting those of us in South Boulder were on pre-evacuation notice. That will get your heart pumping!
My phone was ringing and buzzing all afternoon and neighbors were coming by to check on us and make sure we knew what was going on. I must admit I got pulled into the fire craziness and spent a couple hours Wednesday morning watching the planes and helicopters drop slurry, water, and working hard to battle the fire less than 2 miles from my home.
We hung out in the cul-de-sac talking about how crazy (yet not completely unexpected with the warm weather we’ve had) this Flagstaff fire is. We really have a neighborhood that watches out for each other. The youngest on our street is 4 months old, up to 80. It’s such a nice mix of amazing people, and an event like this really makes me realize how lucky we are to live where we do.
When you buy a home you can’t ever really know what your neighbors are like until you move in and spend time there, but I do think you can do your “homework” ahead of time and stay true to what you need in a community. Are you focused on the schools, the access to public transportation, or the proximity to open space? No matter what you are looking for, chances are pretty good that the neighbors around you value many of the same things (instantly giving you something in common).
With the fire looming this week, I felt confident that no matter what the outcome we have neighbors who care about our family and whom we also would support through the best and worst times.