Home Care In Berthoud, CO

Linda Schmalzried and Jana Smith thought back on countless childhood moments and memories as they walked their family’s land in east Berthoud on Wednesday morning. Smith said she was born in the home a ways down the dirt road entrance to the property, a place they spent their childhoods playing on its many acres or swimming in the Little Thompson River, which weaves around and through the land, or even helping their dad and uncle farm sugar beets.

The two moved away from the Schaal Farm when they grew older, while their brother Dave continued farming there. But despite development in rural areas like Berthoud, the 105-acre portion the sisters own will soon be conserved.

“Hopefully we can continue seeing the farm there,” Smith said. “I grew up on that, and my kids got to come over to grandma and grandpa’s house and they got to be part of the farm. Its a very special place, for my sister and David and I. We grew up there.”

The Schaal Farm is one of two properties the town of Berthoud and Colorado Open Lands is looking to preserve through conservation easements, something moved along with a roughly $1.1 million grant from Great Outdoors Colorado alongside roughly $2.2 million committed from Berthoud’s Open Space Fund.

The town hopes to buy both properties, and then place conservation easements on them to protect the land from development. The sale of the Schaal property should be finalized on Tuesday, according to Berthoud Town Administrator Chris Kirk, while the transaction for the other, smaller farmland is still in negotiations.

A conservation easement serves as a legal agreement between a landowner and another group, usually a land trust, that places restrictions on the use of a piece of property, according to Great outdoors Colorado. The land, once under the easement, is then restricted in regards to what can be done with it and is permanently conserved.

Alex Castino, regional program officer of the Northern Front Range for GOCO, said these easements help support the agriculture of the land as well as the habitats on them.

“(GOCO) was created out of the vision of preserving the Colorado we all know and love,” she said. “It was a big impetus for getting it passed at all. It was a bipartisan issue voted into the constitution by Colorado voters. It drives us to continue to do that work and continue to pursue resources conservation and capitalize on these opportunities as they come up.”

The idea with this specific easement — which is targeting 105 acres of the east side of the Schaal Farms property as well as 35 acres of another farm west of County Road 15A — is to conserve the properties along the Little Thompson River, a tributary of the Big Thompson River.

Chris Kirk, Berthoud town administrator, said the town is aiming to buy these two properties from the owners and then go through the process of a conservation easement.

“Our goal is to have an unobstructed river corridor of open space for farmland all the way from town all the way out to (Interstate 25),” Kirk said, adding that these two sections of property alone will help to conserve a full mile of river corridor.

The Little Thompson is the last river system on the Front Range without public access, according to a release from GOCO. The aim of those involved in the easements is to “preserve the farms’ rich conservation value while exploring management strategies to improve river health and exploring opportunities for additional outdoor recreation in the region,” according to the release.

Kirk said part of this plan includes laying a trail along the river corridor while maintaining the farms as agricultural land for as long as possible.

Smith and Schmalzried said their grandparents, Newton and Etta Schaal, bought the property in 1956 and the land has been used to farm sugar beets, wheat and cattle feed. The two spoke fondly of growing up on the farm but also recognized some of the hardships that affected the land as well.

This included devastation from the 2013 flood, which hit the farm hard, even causing a piece of farm equipment to get stuck in the ground due to silt buildup, a towering piece of metal that the family has tried to get out but never could. But the farm stayed standing and is still farmed by their brother to this day.

It was after the flood that Smith and Schmalzried started to learn about easements, something they decided was the right decision now for their 105-acre portion of the property on the east side of the farm; they added their brother will continue to farm on his portion of the property which will not be included in the easement.

But getting to do this, both said, means their home will forever stay undeveloped.

“For us, for Linda and I, we are really happy and excited to see the farm remain as a farm,” Smith said. “There is so much that is being lost now to building and it is a beautiful location.”

Schmalzried said even after moving away, with Smith in Greeley and Schmalzried in Castle Rock, the farm was always their home base, describing it as “the center of our lives.”

“Every drop of this dirt has my father’s, my uncle’s sweat in it,” she said. “I don’t want it to be plowed over, to be cemented over.”

Kirk said the Schaal transaction is expected to be finalized on April 1 while the easement of the other property — which he said is currently owned by a developer — is still in negotiations. The easements, Kirk said, are of great importance for both preservation of the river and preservation of Berthoud’s past as the community grows.

“We think having strategically placed open spaces helps us do that,” he said.

“The intangible benefit is for those folks who grew up on these properties,” Castino said. “This land is a little part of their soul, to be able to preserve that going forward and not see it plowed over and concreted over and the trees torn down, to see it all preserved the way it is and continue to be the beautiful place they knew their whole life is really a huge benefit.”

Smith said while she and her children may never have farmed the land, she is happy to see it stay how it is and share with others in the future.

“That’s home,” she said.

A fast-moving wildfire Monday forced residents in Larimer County to briefly evacuate as red flag warnings for critical fire danger loom across the state.

The fire, which was fully contained about 5 p.m., burned west of Berthoud in the 5300 block of County Road 8E, near Dry Creek reservoir, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said.

Fire investigators are still looking into what caused the fire and where it originated, the sheriff’s office said.

The Berthoud Fire Protection District, which responded to the fire about 1:45 p.m., called it a “fast-moving grass fire” that was a “rapidly developing situation” on social media posts.

About 60 firefighters were on scene, some fighting the flames while others knocked on doors to encourage or tell residents to leave, said Andrew Kuiken, a division chief for the district. About 60 homes were placed under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders.

The state’s multimission aircraft that flew over the fire estimated it at 21 acres, Kuiken said.

One house and two outbuildings were destroyed, he said, adding that the fire could have destroyed a lot more if not for homeowners’ mitigation efforts.

“In the neighborhood that it’s spread into, they had done an incredible amount of prep work around their homes and keeping their grass short,” Kuiken said. “That just really gave firefighters a leg up when it came time when we got there.”

“We would have been in a very different outcome if that hadn’t happened.”

No injuries were reported. Firefighters will remain on scene tonight to mop up hot spots.

“It’s still very windy out there, so we have to make sure hot spots aren’t spreading embers that could start more fires,” he said.

Officials are warning that fires could easily spread Monday with strong winds forecast along the Front Range and foothills, paired with low relative humidity and warm weather.

Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Olivia PrentzelGeneral Assignment Reporter

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Olivia Prentzel covers breaking news and a wide range of other important issues impacting Coloradans for The Colorado Sun, where she has been a staff writer since 2021. At The Sun, she has covered wildfires, criminal justice, the environment,...

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — A home was destroyed in a "fast-moving" grass fire that ignited west of Berthoud Monday afternoon, according to a spokesperson with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

The 8e Fire was burning in the Rainbow Lake area and forced the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management to order mandatory evacuations for the 5300 block of W. County Road 8E at around 1:39 p.m. Monday.

The evacuation orders also included homes along County Road 23 on the east going west to County Road 31, as well as homes between Homer Rd. on the north/south to County Road 6. The evacuation orders also included addresses on Malibu and Sherman Dr. Voluntary evacuations were in place on Malibu and Shelby Dr., a spokesperson told Denver7.

In all, 379 contacts received evacuation notices while 341 others received voluntary evacuation notices, said Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kate Kimble.

"That is not necessarily the number of people," she said, explaining those notices went to phones that had signed up for evacuation alerts from the county.

County Road 23, which was closed to traffic, reopened from County Road 8 to County Road 14 at around 3:07 p.m., according to deputies. County Road 8E was still closed westbound. It was not immediately clear if the road had reopened to traffic after evacuation orders were lifted.

Poudre Valley REA, the energy company that services the area, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that they may shut off power lines in the area should first responders request it to prevent more wildfires from sparking due to wind gusts that are expected to die down by about 7 p.m.

During a news conference Monday afternoon, Kimble said the fire had grown to about 30 acres in size and that one structure had been impacted. In an update, Larimer County officials said the fire was closer to 21 acres and one home was a "complete loss."

The Berthoud Rec Center was available for anyone in need of resources, Kimble said, while a large animal evacuation zone was set up at The Ranch Events Complex, located at 5280 Arena Circle in Loveland.

Fire officials from Loveland, Larimer County, Front Range, Longmont, and Thompson Valley were assisting the Berthoud Fire Protection District in battling the blaze. A Multi-Mission Aircraft (MMA) has been ordered, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.

The cause and origin of the 8e Fire were under investigation by the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, Kimble said.

Residents looking for updates were urged to text LCEVAC to 888777.

In the grand tradition of the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Berthoud Fire Protection District working together to keep the community safe, the LFRA has offered its fire prevention services to the BFPD, aiding both organizations in making sure buildings are safe for the patrons that use them and the firefighters that may need to put out flames inside them.

The two departments entered into an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year after the BFPD reached out to the LFRA to see if they would be interested in taking control of fire prevention services. Berthoud Fire Chief Stephen Charles said that Berthoud had been using an outside firm for this work, but he felt that having LFRA step in for the job would be a good fit as the two departments constantly work together on incidents and training, having “erased that north south boundary.”

“It was part of a natural process that we would utilize the expertise they have and strengthen that relationship with Loveland Fire,” he said.

Loveland Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach said this will mean that LFRA will be in charge of any of the fire marshal services, things that happen prior to an incident. This includes annual business inspections, plan reviews, code enforcement and more.

“Our relationship with them is incredibly seamless, and this enhances both organizations,” he said.

“Its been a really good partnership,” said Carie Dann, fire marshal and battalion chief with Loveland’s Community Safety Division. “The folks in Berthoud really care about making sure the buildings are safe, not only for the public but also for firefighters. They are a smaller department and they didn’t have the resources, so we have basically built a program for a new division for them.”

LFRA assumed this new duty in January, with Sarah Winter, a fire inspector, taking the reigns in Berthoud while still handling inspector duties in Loveland. The LFRA was able to bring in a part-time inspector to fill in any gaps with the additional work.

So far, Winter has been able to not only meet with many of the business owners and developers in Berthoud, she as also gotten more ingratiated with the Berthoud Fire team, as their work will be impacted by the buildings in Berthoud.

“Because we do have that operational partnership, it makes a lot of sense to have that inspection or community safety partnership as well,” she said.

Assistant Chief of Risk Reduction and Readiness Greg Ward said so far the biggest difference for the team has been understanding the variance in development processes between Loveland and Berthoud, adding the team has worked the last two months to build relationships and better understand any differences.

“Its amazing how quick they caught up with what we have going on in Berthoud,” Charles said.

For all those involved, however, the greatest value of this agreement is the continued and strengthened collaboration between the two departments.

Sendelbach said this creates even more consistent fire coverage, as the teamwork between the departments makes it easier for to help residents residents during a fire. Charles added that the main goal is to provide quality and timely services to the entire community.

“If there is a building on fire in Berthoud, LFRA firefighters are going to be there,” Ward said. “So having the ability for Carie’s team to really open that umbrella further and incorporate Berthoud into that same philosophy … It is expanding her team’s reach in making the buildings safer.”

“I want buildings to be safe everywhere, whether it is Loveland or Berthoud or Denver or Boulder,” Dann said. “It’s especially important to me because our firefighters and Berthoud’s fire fighters run together on a lot of calls. Berthoud could have a call and we are responding as well. I want to make sure their properties are safe for our firefighters and the inverse as well.”

Originally Published: March 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM MST