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Homeless Families Displaced by Colorado Wildfires Struggling to Find New Housing

Snowfall has extinguished the Colorado wildfires that hit Boulder County late last month. But now, the area is facing a new problem—a housing shortage.

The unseasonable fire ignited on December 30th, and it only burned for a short while. But because of dangerously high winds, the flames spread far and wide. And before it was over, more than 1,000 homes were destroyed.

And because Boulder County already had a housing shortage, hundreds of displaced families are still homeless.

Ryan and Nikki Fazio are one of the families who have struggled to find lodging in Superior, CO. As they told Yahoo News, when the fire spread to their neighborhood, they only had moments to grab their children and pets. Luckily, no one was injured. But weeks later, the parents are still living in “survival mode.”

For now, Ryan and Nikki have found a temporary solution. Two complete strangers opened their home to the family. And they’ve temporarily moved out of so they won’t get in the Fazios’ way.

“Our biggest thing is keeping the kids in school and keeping them around their friends, and making sure they have the stability they had before this,” Ryan told Yahoo.

But most Colorado wildfires victims haven’t had that much luck.

Nathan and Cheryl Ruff told the publication that they’ve already moved four times since losing their home. So far, the family has lived in three hotels and a friend’s basement.

“Since the fire, the morning after, that has been my sole purpose — is just to find a home in our community for the children,” Cheryl said.

According to her husband, the area had a critical lack of housing before the Colorado Wildfires hit. At that time, there were only “two or three houses in inventory.” But now, that number has turned into a major deficit.

And a local RE/MAX realtor agreed. Most of the people simply have nowhere to go.

“The need for housing is enormous and desperate and really sad,” Amanda DiVito Parle said. “Just a lot of people who are displaced with very few options.”

IRS Extends Tax Deadline for People Impacted by Colorado Wildfires

Thousands of victims who were affected by the Colorado Wildfires last month will now have until May 16, 2022, to file their individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The extension includes all individual returns that were due on April 18th and all business returns that would have been due by March 15th and April 18th.

The IRS will also give the affected Colorado taxpayers until May 16th to make contributions to their IRAs. And the extension will apply on both the federal and state level.

For more information, read the IRS press release here.