Longmonters answer call to aid evacuees, firefighters in big way

When a call went out to help those forced from their homes by the Cameron Peak, Cal Wood and East Troublesome fires and the firefighters battling the blazes, Longmont stepped up big.

Karen Stallard, membership director at the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce, helped organize some of the efforts to lend a hand.

“It was humbling to see the way that people responded …  witnessing how many people wanted to help. I think everyone feels so powerless in situations like this. That’s kind of true for this entire year,” she said.  

After the Estes Park Chamber of Commerce requested assistance in late October, Stallard and the Chamber rallied people around the effort.  

Stallard reached out to Jonny’s of Longmont owner Jon Bjorgo and Paula Swanson, manager of off- premises operations at Georgia Boys BBQ. Both businesses had support operations already in place and in a matter of hours were able to respond and deliver food to hotels and the Estes Park Emergency Operations Center. 

Throughout the week of Oct. 26, Stallard learned of other needs for firefighters and for children of evacuees who would be missing Halloween because they were sheltered away from home. She put out a call for donations.  

The response was enormous. In less than a day, the community came through with more than 14 shopping carts of donations. Stallard said she was forced to quickly close the request to keep things manageable.  

She estimates that more than 25 local businesses chipped in with items ranging from low-sugar protein bars and woolen hats to socks, beef jerky and candy for kids.

Swire Coca-Cola, the Johnstown-based distribution center, provided 30 cases of Monster energy drinks requested by firefighters. 

“It was literally a mountain high, a wall of Monster,” Stallard said.  

Georgia Boys saw a community response that was equally dramatic. Swanson said the restaurant’s approach to helping included creating a $10 meal which community members could purchase for evacuees and firefighters. 

“We ended up raising, in seven days, 4,100 meals. It was remarkable,” she said.

Some of those donations came in bulk. The effort’s biggest donor, Stapp Interstate Toyota, was the first pledge, paying for 300 meals. Another private donor paid for 100 meals.

“The reason we put this together is that we’re all local. We all live and work here and our customers were looking for a way they could help. We’re glad we could create a tool to do that,” Swanson said.

The response kept Georgia Boys busy. 

“We delivered between 500 and 800 meals a day between (Oct. 24 and 31),” Swason said. 

Georgia Boys worked with the Red Cross to get the meals to evacuees, and with emergency operations managers to get food to firefighters.

During the same time period, Bjorgo was busy mobilizing his food truck-based business to help. His response encompassed three of the fires, included 10 volunteers and reached about 1,000 firefighters and 600 evacuees. 

What he did wasn’t without cost. He estimated that expenses were around $3,000, some of which he paid out of his own pocket, and some of which were covered through donations. 

Bjorgo’s efforts included responding to the Chamber’s call and bringing meals to firefighters battling the Calwood fire. He took his food truck to a Loveland fire station that was an organizing point for fighters of the Cameron Peak Fire and made box lunches for firefighters who couldn’t come off the line. 

His Loveland experience proved to be dramatic.

For that effort, the fire department battalion chief had to escort Bjorgo and his food truck past checkpoints to a fire station in the evacuation zone. 

“To see these guys coming off the line. They’re just covered in soot and ash and they’re cold. Just to have them get a nice, warm meal and have them thank us. It was one of the best things I’ve done since I’ve owned the business,” Bjorgo said.

In an email newsletter sent on Nov. 4, the Chamber highlighted a number of other local businesses and individuals who also came through for firefighters and evacuees. They included The Post Brewing Co., Colorado Friendship, Fidelity National Title, LSE Builders Group and Cyclhops Bike Cantina. 

Bjorgo noted the importance of the larger response he saw from Longmont and the surrounding area. 

“Once someone started helping, all the community came together,” he said. ”People were opening their homes and their yards to people for their animals and to park their RV’s. There were so many people who stepped up.”