PUEBLO WEST — A Pueblo West man’s life had completely changed in a matter of moments, after his garage caught on fire Monday, destroying much of his home.
Mark Swope is known as the “Christmas Guy” in his community, decorating his home with festive lights and holiday decorations. But this week, Mark lost everything but his joy in this fire.
“I was just outside playing with my daughter, trying to do a little yard work,” said Swope.
That was before Mark went inside his house and noticed something unusual.
“I started seeing a lot of smoke there, opened the door and it was just horrible,” said Swope.
Mark says a fire erupted in the garage. He had to act fast to get everyone out of the house.
“I had three contract people in here, my mom and daughter while this was going on, and just tried to get everybody out, called the fire department because got a big propane tank here, the fire was in the garage, and it just got bad fast.”
Now that the dust has settled, Mark has little left.
“I’ve lost a lot of stuff. Three cars burned. Probably almost 100,000 dollar’s worth of cars. I’ve lost all my Christmas stuff… which, had a huge Christmas display. I’ve lost all my stuff to do anything… tools, yard equipment, everything,” said Swope.
He says most of the items can be replaced, but not everything.
“Well one thing that I can’t find in there right now that might have been destroyed is … We have special ornaments that are snowmen that have been in the family for over 60 years,” said Swope.
After sharing his story, Mark gave us a tour of his home.
And it was to his great surprise, that not all joy had been lost in the fire. During the tour, Mark found one of his family snowmen ornaments.
In the midst of this tragedy, Mark isn’t alone. A community group called, “I live in Pueblo West” has come together to offer their support.
“I always like to pull the community together and we just live in an amazing community,” said Rhonda Sposato, a community member of “I live in Pueblo West.”
Through the group, people have donated money through PayPal and others are offering to replace household items.
“It’s a blessing. It’s so nice. Even the neighbors that you hardly see because you’re always working. A lot of people have tried to help and it’s a blessing,” said Swope.
“I heard him say that he was known as the Christmas house. What a wonderful thing that would be if we could help him replace all of his Christmas decorations. Other than the basic necessities but to give him some of the joy back,” said Sposato.
Mark is working on finding a new living situation for him and his 4-year-old daughter in the meantime.
He says is next step is buying his daughter a new car seat, since hers was lost in the fire. Anyone who wishes to help should visit here.
Sposato says her work’s office, Legal Edge Consulting is temporarily taking the donations to give to Mark.
You can also call Sposato to make a donation at:
719-543-7455.
Or you can drop off donations at:
434 S McCulloch Blvd, Pueblo West, CO 81007
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