Texas Baptist Men Help Sift Through Ashes in Wake of Colorado Fire

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It's been three weeks since those devastating wildfires in Colorado. Hundreds of homes were burned.

Now in the aftermath, a team of North Texans is sifting through the ashes in search of belongings that may have survived.

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On Saturday, 22 volunteers from Texas Baptist Men arrived in Boulder County, Colorado from DFW.

They joined others from Amarillo to do some of the final work before the plots, once homes, will be scraped clean.

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"We're just going house to house, and we're searching for anything of value,” said team lead Curt Neal.

Thursday, the group got an 8 a.m. start, meeting with homeowners to find out what they hoped could be salvaged.

"In some cases, we don't find anything because the fire was just so intense that it burned everything up. It melted it. But in some cases, we're finding some mementos, some something that kind of gives the homeowner some hope,” he said.

For a homeowner named Mary that meant a small, charred jewelry box that protected a ring her mother had given her as a child.

In a neighborhood where every home will have to be replaced, Neal said the cost of rebuilding will be too high for some to return.

Still, whatever the journey forward looks like for the 100 or so homeowners Texas Baptist Men expect to serve, the team will do whatever they can to help.

"The reason we're here is because of this fire, but the purpose for us being here is to share the love of Jesus with these people and give them some hope. You know, they're not alone in this. We're here with them to help them through this. There is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Neal.

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