Engaged Couple Digs Up Wedding Rings After Marshall Fire

An engaged Colorado couple found hope again after they thought a devastating tragedy took away their wedding rings.

Michael Parks and Kim Reiss told FOX 31 they only had seconds to grab a handful of belongings and their dog before escaping the fierce Marshall Fire that scorched Boulder County neighborhoods weeks ago.

“I basically just grabbed the photo albums, threw them in the car, and drove,” Parks recalls. The couple's home rests near Harper Lake in Louisville, but when they came back the next day, smoke was still billowing from the wreckage. Reiss remembers dropping to her knees, describing the scene as "surreal."

“We figured everything was gone,” Parks says. The couple then described grabbing hazmat suits and shovels to start digging through the debris for their belongings. They were particularly hopeful to find their wedding bands.

After using a leftover shifter, they found that little piece of hope there were looking for.

"We dug up six buckets and on that sixth one, we finally found it,” Parks told reporters.

“It was pretty crazy, We were hugging, and just so excited,” Reiss added.

Reporters say the engaged couple plans on getting the rings professionally cleaned before their wedding day on May 28. There's also a GoFundMe set up to help them.

“When you lose everything, having those few little things that you can really hold on to — because you’re just rebuilding from nothing — so having those few things, is just amazing,” Parks says.