Tag: Aspen Acres
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Polis requests federal disaster declaration for Colorado wildfires and floods
On Sunday, Gov. Jared Polis officially requested a Major Disaster Declaration from President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support recovery from two wildfires and the subsequent flooding and debris flows on both burn scars. Polis requested a declaration for the Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain fires. The request includes individual and public assistance…
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Team Rubicon volunteers help residents who lost homes during Aspen Acres fire
After the Aspen Acres fire charred more than 80,000 acres during its first week, Colorado Springs resident Dave Gendron with Team Rubicon started making phone calls to see how the disaster relief organization could help. The veteran-led organization is among several nonprofits that sent in teams to help residents clean up homes demolished by the…
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‘Can’t catch a break’: Flash floods hit Beulah, other Aspen Acres burn areas
Gliding off thousands of acres of baked, blackened earth, water from a Tuesday afternoon thunderstorm has caused widespread flash flooding in the Aspen Acres burn scar. “The force of the water is just unreal,” said Sayra Bassett, who was out Wednesday cleaning up around her parents’ property near Northcreek Road in Beulah. Wednesday evening, the…
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Aspen Acres blaze nears 102,000 acres; new incident team set to take over
A new incident team is preparing to take over management of the Aspen Acres fire as the seventh-largest wildland blaze in Colorado history approaches 102,000 acres. Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3 will assume operational command of the blaze at 6 a.m. Tuesday, relieving Northern Rockies CIMT 6, officials said Monday. “The Rocky Mountain…
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Colorado wildfire roundup: Rainfall slows fire activity in some areas, but flash flooding remains a concern
All evacuation zones for the Aspen Acres fire have been reduced to “clear” or pre-evacuation status, and the steadily decreasing number of total personnel suggests fire crews are making steady progress in battling the seventh-largest wildland blaze in Colorado history. But the battle wages on, with warm and dry weather conditions expected throughout the weekend…
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Colorado wildfire roundup: Aspen Acres blaze crosses 100,000-acre threshold; crews gain containment
The seventh-largest wildfire in Colorado history crossed the 100,000-acre threshold over the weekend, but firefighters battling the Aspen Acres blaze have also made large strides in containment. As of Sunday morning, the wildland fire was 100,224 acres with 61% containment, according to Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 6. With most of the containment on…
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Custer County sheriff: Some evacuees get green-light to return Friday
The authorities will allow some evacuees of the Aspen Acres fire to return home Friday, but residents along Colorado 165 should “continue to be alert for changes in fire behavior,” Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith said Thursday. Starting at 9 a.m. Friday, Zone C5C — the area around North Creek Boulevard to the west of Wetmore…
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Many evacuees await return from Aspen Acres blaze as Huerfano County issues new orders
As hundreds of firefighters made progress in slowing the eastward spread of the Aspen Acres fire, its expansion to the south and west prompted new pre-evacuation orders in Huerfano County. Officials asked residents for patience as many areas, including the towns of Rye and San Isabel, remain under evacuation orders. “Overall, progress has been made,…
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Inferno’s advance defied ‘usual’ fire behavior: Volunteer firefighter at Aspen Acres
Like her fellow crewmates on the Southern Colorado Interagency Wildland Fire Team, 34-year-old Amanda Wood was no stranger to challenges that sometimes defied standard logic. An Army veteran, EMT and Palmer High School science teacher, Wood trained to be a firefighter, then joined the all-volunteer agency in March. Less than four months later, she was…
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Beulah residents grapple with Aspen Acres destruction
By Savannah Eller and Mary Shinn The Gazette Nearly two weeks after the Aspen Acres fire exploded onto the landscape, residents are beginning to reckon with the destruction, even as the fire burns on. On Saturday, the fire had charred 97,505 acres and destroyed about 850 structures, including at least 254 homes in Pueblo County…