LOVELAND, Colo. — People impacted by the Alexander Mountain Fire can pick up free sandbags beginning Saturday to help protect their families and properties from flash flooding.
The event, provided by Serve 6.8, will be held between 10 a.m. and noon at the Rez Church, 6502 E. Crossroads Blvd. in Loveland. People can pick up as many sandbags as they need, and volunteers are confident they’ll have enough for everyone who needs some.
“After a fire, there's a large flood risk,” said Ashlee Schmitt, mobilization director for Serve 6.8. “These sandbags can help families protect their homes or private roadways from any flash flooding that happens over the next couple weeks, couple months.”
Schmitt spent Friday in the rain helping a small team set up the parking lot station. On Saturday, she said, 40 to 50 volunteers will fill bags and help load them into the back of people’s cars and trucks.
“Over the next three weekends, ... we're hoping to build 4,000 to 5,000 sandbags, knowing that we have so many people that want to help,” Schmitt said. “If the need is bigger than that, we can make even more throughout the next month.”
She said it’s inspiring to see people wanting to help those impacted and knows the recovery is just beginning.
“You never want to see flooding, but it's so encouraging to me to see the community come together and want to take care of their neighbors,” she said. “And so even though this sand pile represents flooding for so many people, what it represents to me is people coming together to care for their neighbors and being willing to help. We can't stop flooding, but we can help to redirect the water, and that's a lot of manpower can come together to make that happen.”