DENVER – Boulder County residents and businesses who sustained damages from the Marshall Fire may be eligible for state and federal disaster assistance. FEMA has programs that provide financial help with temporary housing expenses, basic home repairs and other essential disaster-related needs. FEMA may also make referrals to other local, state, federal and voluntary assistance programs.
First, if you haven’t already done so, contact your insurance company and file a claim for the disaster-caused damage. You don’t have to wait to start cleaning up but be sure to take photographs or video of the damage and keep all receipts for repair work.
If you have uninsured or underinsured losses, apply for assistance with FEMA. You can do so in several ways:
- Visit DisasterAssistance.gov and click on “Apply Online”
- Call 800-621-3362 (800-462-7585 TTY). Multilingual operators are available. The toll-free numbers are open every day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. MST. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned phone, or others, give FEMA the number for that service.
- Download the FEMA App for smartphones or mobile devices
- On Sunday meet with FEMA Application Assistance staff from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Boulder County Disaster Assistance Center at 1755 S. Public Road in Lafayette. Additional hours will be announced later.
- Information about how to apply for low-interest U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans for businesses and residents is available online at www.SBA.gov/disaster. You may also call 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. TTY users may call 800-877-8339.
SBA offers federal low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters.
In addition to financial aid from FEMA or the SBA, by applying you may be referred to additional federal, state and local disaster aid programs or assistance from voluntary agencies.
It is helpful to have the following information available:
- Address of the dwelling/structure where the damage occurred (pre-disaster address)
- Current mailing address
- Current telephone number
- Insurance information
- Total household annual income
- Social Security Number
- Routing and account number for checking or savings account (this allows FEMA to directly transfer disaster assistance funds into a bank account)
- A description of disaster-caused damage and losses