Aspen Acres Fire Swallows 10,000 Acres, Leaves 3,800 Homes Evacuated

The Aspen Acres fire swallowed 10,000 more acres overnight. It now covers 85,585 acres. Zero percent contained.

That is the short version of your Saturday morning commute. That is the reality for anyone living south of Pueblo. The blaze continues its unrelenting march into Fourth of July weekend. Hot, dry, and windy conditions fueled the expansion.

The number of firefighters on scene jumped to 498. That is up from more than 350 just yesterday. Authorities have labeled this the highest-priority fire in the nation for support requests. They are pulling resources from everywhere they can find them.

The fire started June 29 in Custer County. High winds pushed it quickly into Pueblo County. Roughly 3,800 homes are under evacuation orders. That affects 11,000 people. Parts of Fremont and Huerfano counties are on pre-evacuation status. All orders remain in effect Saturday morning.

More than 180 structures are gone. At least 55 homes in Custer County have been destroyed. The damage is concrete. It is not projected.

Bishop Castle, the local tourist attraction, survived. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it was still standing as of 10 a.m. Saturday. The property had been evacuated. The sheriff’s office noted the front facade is untouched. It appears the back may also be untouched. That is a rare break in an otherwise brutal week.

Fire crews are working to stop the spread near Rye and Colorado City. Flames reached Colorado Highway 165 Saturday morning. The fire crossed the highway in several areas. Crews are mopping up burned sections where flames passed through Colorado City. They are extinguishing hot spots to prevent rekindling.

Bulldozers are cutting new containment lines north of Rye. They are working along the western flank of Colorado City. Work continues on the eastern edge of the fire. Crews are building dozer lines along Siloam Road. They are working around Galbreath Creek and Wales Canyon.

Part of Pueblo Reservoir is closed to firefighting aircraft. Planes need to refill their water tanks. Boaters must stay at least half a mile from the dam. That stretches from N1 Cove to Sailboard Beach. If you were planning a boat trip, check the restrictions before you launch.

Officials stated Thursday this fire was human-caused. They have released no details on who or what caused it. The mystery remains.

The weather outlook is not helping. The National Weather Service Office in Pueblo says mostly dry weather with lighter winds for Saturday. But thunderstorms are possible later in the day. Fire officials warn those storms could bring wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph. Those gusts would stoke the flames and fuel continued growth.

Satellite thermal detection shows many areas of heat remain. Those hot spots are a concern as storm cells form. Wind from the storms could push embers miles ahead of the main front.

This fire now stands as the eighth largest in Colorado history by acreage. It sits just behind the High Park fire, which burned 87,284 acres west of Fort Collins in 2012. The gap is closing fast.

Feinsinger wrote in the Colorado Sun that the fire remains zero percent contained. The lack of containment is the real story here. You cannot contain a fire that grows 10,000 acres in twelve hours. The math does not work for the locals trying to hold the line.

The area remains under a hazardous weather outlook. The danger is not over. It is just shifting form.