When Abrams made his first trip back, he noticed ash and soot piles behind doors and on window sills. He was also knocked back by the thick smell the fire imprinted throughout the home. 

“It was just the worst smokey smell you could smell,” he said. “You could tell it was a lot of bad stuff in the air.” 

A few days later, a father of one of his son’s classmates asked Abrams if he would allow scientists to take over the home temporarily to study the indoor air quality. He lept at the opportunity to learn more about the impact the fire left.

Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteUniversity of Colorado Boulder researcher Joost de Gouw has set up equipment inside a Superior home to monitor for air quality impacts left by the Marshall fire. Jan. 12, 2022.

The connection led Joost de Gouw, a chemistry professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and a fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, to pack the Abrams’ dining area with air monitoring equipment. Gas detectors and spectrometers are now tracking the long-term effects of smoke smothering the inside of the house. 

“The home acted like a sponge. It really absorbed a lot of those gases. And that’s why we’re still smelling things in here because it’s slowly being released from the walls, from the furniture, from the curtains, from the carpet, from a lot of the materials you have in a modern home,” de Gouw said. 

The instruments have already picked up elevated levels of benzene, a known carcinogen.

Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteThe home in Superior where researchers are monitoring for lasting air quality impacts from the Marshall fire still looks the way it did when the family who lives here evacuated. Jan. 12, 2022.

The plan is to measure the effectiveness of recommended fixes, like professionally cleaning the home and ductwork. De Gouw also recommends air purifiers with both HEPA and activated carbon air filters along with low-tech solutions, like opening windows. 

In the meantime, Abrams doesn’t plan to return to his home until the scientists ensure the indoors is safe — and maybe longer. He worries efforts to clear the debris nearby could kick up even more air pollution. 

“I’m really worried about the outdoors,” he said. “I think that’s the most important for us right now, especially with small kids.”

Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteAsh from the Marshall fire that blew into a Superior home during and after the Marshall fire. Jan. 12, 2022.
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