CANYON CITY — The 90 antique cookie jars and antique player piano that once were on display at the Grizzly Bear pizza parlor are gone.

Nearly everything that Dean and Betty Elliott owned, as well as the 115-year-old house they lived in for 53 years, is gone. The Canyon Creek Complex fire took it all.

They managed to salvage a few random items last Monday when they returned to their homesite. They collected an antique water pump and mining cart, a few framed photographs, a small ceramic duck and a special vase that was given to Betty by their son, Wayne, who died in a car accident a few years ago.

Like so many others in the community, the Elliotts’ lives changed on Aug. 14. The fire, which started small, grew in a hurry with the help of wind in the canyon, south of Canyon City.

At 11 a.m., they received a Level 2 evacuation notice — telling them to prepare to evacuate.

They started gathering their things, but just 20 minutes later, they were told to leave right away.

“There were red ashes falling in the yard, and I thought I could hear his pick-up and that there was something wrong with the motor because it was so loud,” Betty said. “It was the fire — he didn’t have his pick-up on.”

“The wind was fierce,” Dean said. It roared like a frieght train.

Betty tried to find their three cats. Her son, Rick, called.

“I told Rick, ‘I can’t talk, we’re evacuating, and I have to catch the cats,’” she said.

She found the three pets, but one escaped. They were out of time.

The vortex swept down the canyon, they said. The fire sucked all the oxygen out of the air.

If they had stayed another 15 minutes, Dean said, the fire would have killed them.

Now, they are trying to piece their lives together. A friend told them a home was available. They stopped their the newspaper delivery. Dean obtained a temporary driver’s license.

“We’re going to have to buy you a wallet,” Betty told him.

They miss their home, nestled in 30 timbered acres.

“We did a bunch of work to make that place livable,” Dean said.