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Marshall Fire survivor on official cause of wildfire: 'This doesn’t change anything'

Ted Chavez and his family members lost five homes in the Marshall Fire – only one has been rebuilt so far.

SUPERIOR, Colo. — Ted Chavez has been back “home” only a few weeks – it's not his original home, but rather a rebuilt version of the home that once sat on land generations of his family have owned for decades.

“It’s great to drive back to Superior, been doing it all my life,” he said. “But it’s just – it’s not my home. It’s a home.”

9NEWS has been following the Chavez family since the early days of the Marshall Fire. Family members lost five different homes all next to each other in Superior. The rebuilding process has been long, difficult, and expensive.

On Thursday, Boulder County officials released their findings of an investigation into the fire’s cause.

The sheriff’s office points to two origins of fire that merged into one big burn. They said the first fire started on the property of a religious group, where the embers of a six-day-old dormant fire reignited almost a week after the initial burn thanks to hurricane-force winds.

BCSO said the second fire was sparked by Xcel Energy equipment.

District Attorney Michael Dougherty said there will be no criminal charges filed.

“In my world, it doesn’t change anything,” Chavez said Thursday. “It doesn’t even give me a sense of relief.”

“You know, even if a person caught this on fire, it wouldn’t matter. We should’ve been ready. The county should’ve been ready. The city should’ve been ready. That’s what hurts the most.”

Lawsuits have already been filed related to the fire’s cause, and Chavez expects there will be more. But his family lost more than just a home and the items inside. They lost family heirlooms and generations of family memories

“My wife’s stuff is all gone. That’s the hardest,” he said, wiping away a few tears.“When we had to fill our contents out for our insurance, that was the hardest thing I ever did in my entire life.”

But this family has embraced the "hard." They are committed to coming back home, no matter what it takes.

“I hope everyone just hangs on tight, and just know there is an end. When? I don't know. But there is an end to this,” he said.

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