Thursday night’s destructive fire in Boulder County has conjured up difficult memories for Grand County residents still recovering from last year’s East Troublesome Fire.

Authorities said Friday that the Marshall fire may have destroyed as many as 1,000 homes east of Boulder in the 6,000-acre fire that was fanned by wind gusts up to 110 miles per hour on Thursday. Superior and south Louisville were hardest hit, and Boulder County is hoping a light snow that moved in Friday will help firefighters.

The similarities to October 2020’s East Troublesome Fire, which burned hundreds of homes in one night before eventually being calmed by a much-needed snow, is impossible to ignore. Marjorie Cranston, who lost her home in the East Troublesome Fire, said she has been reliving that traumatic night with the Boulder County community.

“The heart breaks more because you have lived that story and nightmare,” she said.

Recalling that the first morning after evacuating the East Troublesome Fire, Cranston remembered that all she wanted was a toothbrush. She didn’t have one.

Navigating the insurance and rebuilding process, she wanted to offer what advice she had to the victims of the Marshall fire feeling just as lost Friday.

“There are probably a lot of people there that don’t know what to do, that don’t know what to do with their insurance,” she said. “They don’t know who to call. They may not have money. That’s kind of No. 1 is to call your insurance company after you get through that first night.”

Attorney Natascha O’Flaherty with McDonough Law has helped a number of clients, including Cranston, navigate the insurance process since losing their homes in the East Troublesome Fire. She said her best advice for the Marshall fire victims is to contact their insurance company and be aware of their rights and what their insurance policy covers.

While victims are likely still reeling from the loss, she advised them to start looking immediately for somewhere to live and to start documenting all expenses. Cranston reflected those statements, encouraging fire victims to advocate for themselves.

“They’re in for a long ride down there — because it’s been a long ride here,” Cranston said.

Fourteen months after losing her home, Cranston and her husband are in the process of rebuilding. She said the message she most wanted to share with the Marshall fire victims was one of hope.

“There’s always hope,” Cranston said. “There’s always hope and you have to hang on to every bit of it that you can muster up. If you don’t have it, you hang on to other people that do.”

Donations to the Boulder County Wildfire Fund can be made at https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund.