Firefighter loses home to massive Colorado wildfire

NEDERLAND, CO (KTRK) -- A firefighter is now among the fire victims in Colorado after flames from the massive Cold Springs fire shifted toward homes in recent days.

Charlie Schmidtmann was working the fire when he realized his home was among those that went up in flames.

Schmidtmann told station KCNC, "I just noticed the house was gone. Gone. Not a single wall standing."

But he didn't stop when he realized his loss. Schmidtmann went to his neighbor's house to work on shoring up the structure.

Friends and strangers are rallying together to help Schmidtmann and his wife. A GoFundMe page has already raised more than $60,000.

"We're not the only ones," Schmidtmann said. "I appreciate it, so much. ... We do work here, we do live here. The sad thing is the way this all was caused."

Authorities say the fire was started after a campfire wasn't properly extinguished. Two men are now charged, KCNC reports.