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Lori Peek is a sociologist at CU Boulder who has spent more than two decades listening to the stories of the survivors of disasters from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina.听

Peek also has reminders of her own close brush with wildfires. In October 2020, she and her family fled their house in northwest Boulder County as the Calwood Fire closed in. Her home survived, but she can see the foundations of many of the houses that didn鈥檛 from the window of her home office.

鈥淚鈥檝e spent my whole career learning about disasters directly from survivors, but that was the first time that I had ever had to flee in the face of a fire,鈥� said Peek, director of the at CU Boulder.

The experience drove home what she already knew from interviewing young people and others who had lived through Hurricane Katrina and the Joplin tornado: Natural hazards, even near misses, can leave a lasting impact on the mental health of survivors. Disasters also don鈥檛 harm people in isolation. The most vulnerable people in a society, including people experiencing poverty or racial discrimination, tend to take the biggest brunt. Over time, those hits can begin to stack on top of each other鈥攕omething Peek has seen in Boulder County, which, in the span of a single year, experienced a pandemic, a mass shooting and now the Marshall Fire.听

鈥淢ost people with the proper supports can and do recover from disasters,鈥� Peek said. 鈥淏ut there is always a segment of the population that suffers emotionally over the long term. There is growing recognition that we need additional mental health support for survivors after a disaster.鈥�

Peek noted that survivors of events, such as the Marshall Fire, may experience 鈥渢he long tail of disaster-related trauma.鈥� Survivors, Peek said, continue to feel the toll from a natural disaster long after the TV cameras and disaster relief groups are gone.听

鈥淔or those of us who aren鈥檛 affected, our lives quickly return to normal,鈥� said Peek. 鈥淏ut disaster survivors are in this for the long haul. Continuing to listen to them and support them in the long term is so crucial.鈥�

The five Ps, plus compassion

To prepare for disasters like floods or wildfires, Peek urges Coloradans to follow the 鈥渇ive Ps鈥�: . She added that before you try to help after a disaster, you should always listen to what survivors and emergency management personnel say they need.

Andi O鈥機onor, a professional speaking coach and CU Boulder alumna, agrees with this compassionate approach. O鈥機onor has lived through the experience of losing not one, but two homes to fire. On Labor Day 2010, O鈥機onor鈥檚 home in the Boulder foothills burned down in what would become known as the Fourmile Canyon Fire.

During those early days and weeks, O鈥機onor said she felt a little overwhelmed by the requests from well-meaning people who wanted to help her. On , O鈥機onor offers advice on in the right way. When in doubt, O鈥機onor said, buy people gift cards.

She added that you the survivors of disasters to keep up an upbeat and positive attitude. Losing a home is about more than 鈥渏ust stuff,鈥� O鈥機onor said. She鈥檒l never get back the signed letter than John F. Kennedy sent to her father or the transcripts from her original dissertation research.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the small things you miss. That鈥檚 the weird thing that you discover that no one understands unless you鈥檝e gone through it,鈥� O鈥機onor said. 鈥淚 had this favorite pink shirt, and for years, I鈥檇 look for that shirt. I鈥檇 open my drawer, and say, 鈥極h, right, that鈥檚 gone.鈥欌��

After her own close calls with wildfire, Natasha Stavros, director of the Earthlab Analytics Hub at CU Boulder, keeps a prepacked box in her house with all of the possessions she can鈥檛 live without. Stavros decided to pursue a doctorate in fire science after her family had to evacuate their home in San Diego twice鈥攐nce when she was still living at home in 2003 and again in 2007 when she was a student out of state.

鈥淕rief can be a really long process, and it鈥檚 going to come in waves,鈥� Stavros said. 鈥淧eople are going to experience a range of emotions at any given time, and it鈥檚 important to give them a safe space to experience whatever it is they experience.鈥�

Time and casseroles

When O鈥機onor was in eighth grade, her childhood home in Glenview, Illinois, also burned to the ground.听

On Dec. 30, O鈥機onor watched from her current home on Sugarloaf Mountain as a plume of smoke grew over the towns of Superior and Louisville. Over the next day, the Marshall Fire consumed nearly 1,000 structures, including the homes of many students, staff and faculty at CU Boulder. One person remains missing, and another is confirmed dead.听

O鈥機onor, who earned her master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from the CU Boulder School of Education, wants Coloradans to know that the survivors of the fire will likely spend years recovering, both financially and emotionally. Right now, they also probably feel overwhelmed by the offers of support they鈥檝e received from friends, family and even strangers. 听

鈥淵ou lost your foundation of safety,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat can really rock your world, and it takes a while to build that back.鈥�

O鈥機onor added that living through two devastating fires has brought her good memories as well as bad. She still remembers, for example, when her friend Anne came to her rental and stocked her freezer with casserole and soup without expecting O鈥機onor to socialize.

鈥淎 disaster changes you quite profoundly. It is a long recovery, but there can be a lot of gifts along the way,鈥� O鈥機onor said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the hope that I can hold out for people.鈥�