A mother and daughter died after a flash flood swept their camper away in the Buckhorn Canyon near Crystal Mountain and the burn scar of the Cameron Peak Fire in Larimer County last Friday night.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received multiple reports of flash flooding in the Glen Haven and Crystal Mountain areas west of Fort Collins around 5 p.m. on Friday, July 15. The National Weather Service in Boulder said the flash flood was caused by a strong thunderstorm that produced 1 to 2 inches of rain within a short time.

Courtesy photo – Lisa Schilling and her 12-year-old daughter, Lily Arguello died after a flash flood swept their camper away in Buckhorn Canyon on Friday, July 15.

According to LCSO, early reports indicated that a camping trailer had been washed away in the middle to upper Buckhorn area. Those reports also included that an adult female and a juvenile female were in one of the trailers. They were located at about 7:30 that evening.

The victims have been identified as 36-year-old Lisa Schilling and her 12-year-old daughter Lily Arguello, both from Littleton. According to the Larimer County Coroner’s Office, both died from accidental drowning.

Deputies, LCSO Emergency Services, and several other agencies immediately responded to the areas. They encountered moderate flooding in the Glen Haven area and significant flooding in the Crystal Mountain and Buckhorn area including washed-out private bridges and culverts. Buckhorn Road was washed out near mile marker 25 and deputies used the LCSO Humvees to access areas beyond that point. Others searched the affected areas on foot.

A GoFundMe page to support ongoing expenses for Aaron Arguello, Schilling’s husband and father of Lily, and family has been set up at gofundme.com/f/lisa-schilling-and-lily-arguello.  According to a post on the page, the family owned land in the area for decades where they would go camping. The mother and daughter along with other relatives were preparing for more family to come up that weekend. After a period of heavy rain, a loud rumble in the canyon preceded a “…mountain of trees, rocks, mud and water rushing toward us. In a moment, the trailer where Lisa, Lily and their two dogs were, was swept away and overtaken by the rush of the flood.”

Six people have now died from flash floods in the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire burn scar. Due to this most recent tragedy, the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority on Tuesday added landline, cellphone calls, and email alerts for all flash flood warnings impacting burn scars in Larimer County. There are multiple options for people to subscribe to free alerts for flash floods and other events, including wildfires.

To access the new system for the LETA flash flood alerts, visit nocoalert.org/.

Officials encourage residents and those visiting mountainous areas to have multiple communication methods to receive alerts and keep in contact during emergency situations.