Deb Machin is convinced that guardian angels exist, and that she is living proof.

Had she and her husband, John, not been awakened by the siren of a fire truck racing toward a fire, she believes that they would have been overtaken in their sleep by the seventh-largest wildland blaze in Colorado history.

The Aspen Acres fire, which has been burning in Pueblo and Custer counties for a month, was at 101,921 acres and 66% containment as of Wednesday afternoon. The blaze has destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures.

The Machins, who were camping at a secluded spot near Colorado 78 the morning of June 29 when the fire started, believe the siren jolted them awake just in time to get some distance from the fire.

“What if that fire truck hadn’t driven by?” Deb said. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

Days before the fire, Deb and John set off from Yuma, Ariz., on a camping trip, planning to stop at several locations on their way to the Colorado Springs area, where they lived years ago.

“We had gone to a camping area near Lake Isabel on the Sunday before the fire started,” Deb said. “But the camping area was full.”

In their search for a suitable camping spot, the couple considered the Aspen Acres campground, but eventually decided to go somewhere a little more isolated.

That’s how they ended up near Colorado 78, about 4 miles from Highway 165.

“It was a beautiful spot,” Deb said.

Because it was windy that day, the couple decided to leave their trailer attached to their pickup in case the weather forced them to leave the area quickly. That turned out to be a potentially life-saving decision, Deb said.

“Thank goodness we did not detach that trailer,” she said.

The next morning, the siren woke the couple, and when Deb left the trailer to walk their dog, Ollie, she smelled smoke.

“My husband came out, and we could see smoke, and a glow that had to be fire. It didn’t seem far away,” she said. “At that point, we threw everything we had in our trailer and got moving.”

As the Machins left the area, they drove through the town of Beulah.

“It was such a nice little town,” Deb said. “It saddens me to know that the town that we drove through is devastated. So many of the houses are gone now.”

The couple are staying at a relative’s home in Widefield, their camping trip on hold for the moment.

“We’re a little leery about going into the mountains right now,” Deb said.

While she is saddened by the wreckage caused by the blaze, Deb said she is heartened by the fact that no deaths have been reported from the incident.

“I’m so glad there were no casualties — us included,” she said.

At some point in the future, when the fire is out and normalcy is restored, the couple would like to find the driver of the fire truck that woke them on the morning of June 29, and thank them.

“I would love to share our story with them and let them know they were our guardian angel,” she said.