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Six large wildfires burning across Colorado have scorched more than 129,000 acres — about 200 square miles — as hundreds of firefighters battle the flames with little relief in sight ahead of another stretch of hot, dry and windy weather.
The largest wildfire currently burning in the state, the Aspen Acres fire in Pueblo and Custer counties, is roughly 50,187 acres, or about 78 square miles.
Mike Morgan, director of the state’s fire division, said Colorado’s exceptionally dry conditions paired with powerful, erratic winds are creating dangerous conditions unlike any he’s seen in his decadeslong firefighting career.
“I’ve been a firefighter in Colorado for 40 years and I have never seen conditions like we’re seeing out there right now,” Morgan said during a news conference for the Aspen Acres fire Thursday afternoon. “When we saw 80 mile an hour winds sustained, 100 mile an hour gusts — I know it’s frustrating, it’s disappointing to us as much as it is to you … when we can’t send aircraft up into the air to help support the work on the ground.”
Flames of the Aspen Acres fire are so intense, Stan Hilkey, executive director of Colorado’s Department of Public Safety, said he saw street signs completely melted to the ground.
On an average year, about 5,000 fires will start in Colorado, about 90% of them caused by a human act, Morgan said. He pleaded with the public to do their part to stop fires from starting.
Dangerous fire conditions with humidity levels below 5% and triple-digit temperatures are forecast as Colorado heads into a holiday weekend.
“My biggest concern keeping me awake right now is new starts because we cannot afford to get another large fire going on the landscape in the state of Colorado or in the Rocky Mountain area,” Morgan said. “Because as soon as we get resources away from the Beulah fire, to keep it small, there’s a finite amount of aircraft and firefighters in the United States of America and we’re starting to hit that drawdown.”
Here’s the latest on the largest wildfires burning in Colorado:
Crews inside 14 large air tankers are working across Colorado to help extinguish Colorado’s fires, including the Aspen Acres fire in Pueblo and Custer counties when conditions allow, Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday afternoon.
“We are getting, having and deploying the aerial resources we need,” Polis said during a news briefing.
More than 300 firefighters are currently fighting the Aspen Acres fire with several hundreds more on their way as the fire remains at 0% containment, amid stark warnings that further growth is inevitable.
“I met with and heard from many of the people who don’t know if they’ll have a home to return to, and some who don’t have a home,” Polis said, adding that he has talked to several people whose homes are underinsured or not insured at all.
The fire is still “an active concern,” Pueblo County Sheriff Dave Luero said, warning that those on pre-evacuation notice should be ready to leave if the fire spreads.
Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith, said he saw the fire “rocket at lightning speeds” Wednesday toward the town of Wetmore and today, the fire is moving in the opposite direction, impacting residents of Pueblo County.
A complex incident management team from Alaska assumed command of the fire Thursday morning, Jake Livingston, incident commander of the team said.
The team is one of several that are trained to manage large-scale emergencies across the country and is made up of local, state and federal ranking personnel that handle suppression operations, as well as finance, logistics, safety and public information, according to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service in Alaska.
Seventeen hand crews, six engines, six dozers and 50 water tenders were added to the fire with the new team, Livingston said. About 100 engines are coming from California to fight the fire, he said.
“We are at the mercy of what those winds are doing and what the humidity, the science is doing,” Livingston said. “Because at times the fire will lay down and it’s not moving at all, but then we get a gust, then some of those fires internally create their own weather systems and start propelling it and moving it a lot faster.”
The Aspen Acres fire has burned at least 180 structures in Pueblo and Custer counties and officials believe that number will rise as the fire grows and teams can safely enter neighborhoods to conduct assessments.
Fire officials say the fire, which started June 29, was human-caused but have not released more details on their investigation. The fire showed explosive growth because of record-low fuel moisture levels and persistent red flag conditions the week before it ignited and the days after, officials said.
Winds will likely weaken and moisture will likely return by the weekend, forecasters said.
On Thursday, all mandatory evacuations, including Beulah, Colorado City and Wetmore, remained in place. To receive information about evacuation orders in the area from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, residents can sign up for alerts here.
Several road closures were also in place including:
— Colorado 96 from Butler Street in Silver Cliff to Siloam Road
— Colorado 67 from Wetmore to milepoint 3
— Colorado 165 from McKenzie Junction to Interstate 25
— Colorado 78 from Colorado 165 to Rock Creek Road
Public health officials are testing three water treatment plants that serve under 1,000 residents, the governor said. He did not provide details, but said they were affected by the fire.
Firefighters reached 49% containment on the Snyder fire that is burning along the Colorado-Utah border, officials said Thursday morning.
The fire, which killed three firefighters during the initial attack, is now estimated at 30,193 acres, according to the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1.
The fire’s growth has been minimal despite critical fire conditions over the past few days, officials said. Crews are continuing to secure the fire line, including along the valley’s floors below the mesa to cut off the fire’s progression south. They are also looking for ways to stop the fire from advancing west toward the Colorado River because much of the unburned portion in Jones Canyon is unassessible by foot.
All pre-evacuation orders issued for the fire near Glade Park have been lifted.
Those living and working in parts of Montrose County were told to be ready to leave Thursday morning in case the 18,005-acre Gold Mountain fire, burning near Ouray, continues to push in their direction.
The fire was 0% contained as of Thursday.
Fire behavior is expected to be “moderate to very high” by noon and could increase to extreme later in the afternoon, the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 said.
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office issued a pre-evacuation notice for properties south of the P77 Road/Cimarron Road intersection and properties on P77 Road one mile north of the intersection.
Cimarron State Wildlife Area will be closed to public access until the pre-evacuation status is lifted, the sheriff’s office said.
On Thursday, 377 firefighters were working to reinforce the firelines on the southwestern perimeter of the fire to prevent the fire from moving into Ouray. On the western side, aerial crews are helping across rugged terrain to connect the fireline from Cutler Creek to areas with sparser fuels on Baldy Peak, fire officials said.
“This country is very rugged and we want our folks to be safe, we want the public to be safe,” Jeramy Dietz, operation section chief for the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3 said in a video briefing. “So we’re spending our time to try to figure out where we can get a good spot for our folks to be safe while firefighting this stuff.”
The Ferris fire, burning 27,382 acres in the San Juan National Forest, continued moving down Doe Canyon toward the Dolores River Canyon overnight, fire officials said Thursday morning.
The fire hasn’t reached the Dolores River yet, but is expected to today.
Crews on Thursday will be moving to the west side of Dolores Canyon to be prepared to protect structures, if needed.
The lightning-caused fire has not reached private lands but is impacting cattle whose owners have permits allowing them to graze on the national forest land.
“The Glade area hosts some of the best managed range on the Forest and we are working hard to both contain the fire and to support permittees and their animals,” officials with the San Juan National Forest said on Facebook.
The Willow fire burning 6 miles west of Leadville was roughly 2,207 acres as of Thursday morning and 0% contained.
Crews are working Thursday to strengthen structure protection around Turquoise Lake and further assess values as risk. Firefighters will also scope areas to slow the fire’s spread to the north and scout future containment options in the Halfmoon Creek area to the southeast.
As conditions allow, aerial crews will drop water near critical infrastructure to reduce the fire’s intensity.
Fire activity was high Tuesday as high temperatures and dry conditions challenged firefighters’ efforts to suppress the flames, fire officials said Thursday morning.
Several spot fires near the Twin Peaks merged in the afternoon, prompting helicopters to drop water in the area and along the powerline corridor. No damage to the transmission infrastructure was reported, officials said.
The cause of the fire is undetermined.
Firefighters reached 50% containment of the Big Sheep fire, which has burned 1,153 acres, officials in Huerfano County said Wednesday evening.
Pre-evacuation orders are still in effect, but will be re-evaluated by the end of the day Thursday.
The fire was first reported Monday afternoon near Moonshine Ranch, which is west of Walsenburg.
Here are the wildfires burning across Colorado, including the latest information on active fires, helpful resources and in-depth coverage.
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Olivia Prentzel covers breaking news and a wide range of other important issues impacting Coloradans for The Colorado Sun, where she has been a staff writer since 2021. At The Sun, she has covered wildfires, criminal justice, the environment, child welfare and more. She has also written for National Geographic, The Gazette in Colorado Springs,… More by Olivia Prentzel
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