As Colorado burns, a novel climate change lawsuit seeking damages from oil companies heads to the Supreme Court

SUPERIOR, Colo. — Daryl McCool heard at noon that a wildfire was surging toward her home. By 2 p.m., only a smoldering pile of rubble was left.

McCool and her family were able to quickly evacuate, but the devastating Marshall Fire on Dec. 30, 2021, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed two people in the 6,000 acres between Denver and Boulder. No other wildfire in Colorado’s history has caused so much property damage, an estimated $2 billion.

“Just devastating. There is no feeling to describe the anguish,” McCool told NBC News.

The city of Boulder and Boulder County — which includes Superior — now seek to hold energy companies accountable for the costs of adapting to a climate altered by fossil fuel emissions. In a novel lawsuit the Supreme Court is considering in October, Boulder is asking for damages from Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy. The lawsuit, which has echoes of previous litigation against Big Tobacco, accuses the companies of misleading consumers about the affect fossil fuels would have in Colorado, which includes the risk of more damaging wildfires.

For more on this story, tune in to “Hallie Jackson NOW” on NBC News NOW at 5 p.m. ET.

The lawsuit, filed in 2018, does not specifically seek recompense for the Marshall Fire, but the disaster highlights how local governments are struggling to adapt to, and pay for, the impacts of climate change.

The oil companies deny the allegations, countering that the Boulder lawsuit and more than two dozen others like it are part of a broader war on fossil fuels led by environmentalists.

McCool, 61, spoke to NBC News at her new home in the same location on an early August day with the sky made hazy by wildfire smoke and the temperature in the city of Boulder hitting 104 degrees, substantially higher than the seasonal average.

Wildfires have continued to plague Colorado since the Marshall Fire, with the ongoing Aspen Fire having reached 100,000 acres, while the state faces drought conditions and high temperatures, all aggravated by climate change.

At the old house McCool shared with her husband and son, all that was left of note were a scorched apple tree and an ornamental windmill. She later found a picture of a heart her son had drawn in elementary school.

The loss, she said, “still hits in waves.”