The Aspen Acres fire surged forward on Tuesday, scorching another 3,000 acres in southern Colorado for a total burn area of more than 150 square miles, according to fire officials.
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That wildfire remained Colorado’s largest active blaze and the seventh-largest in state history on Wednesday. It has forced thousands of people to evacuate and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Together, four active wildfires in Colorado have consumed nearly 190,000 acres, or 296 square miles. That’s nearly twice the size of the city of Denver.
Jump to: Aspen Acres fire | Gold Mountain fire | Ferris fire | Willow fire | Air quality alerts
Aspen Acres fire in Custer and Pueblo counties
The Aspen Acres fire in southern Colorado was burning on an estimated 96,031 acres — 150 square miles — with 15% containment as of Wednesday morning, according to an update from the incident management team.
The fire’s footprint is approaching the size of Denver, which is a little over 153 square miles, and remains the seventh-largest in Colorado history, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Fire officials believe it has destroyed at least 185 homes and four businesses in Pueblo County and another 81 homes in Custer County.
Nearly 1,700 personnel were on scene Wednesday morning to fight the wildfire, according to fire officials.
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The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office lifted evacuation orders on Monday for people who live west of Interstate 25 and north of Cummings Street, east of South Crow Cutoff, east of Haynes Road and south of Jerry Bass Lane. Those areas remained on pre-evacuation status, meaning residents must be prepared to leave again if conditions change. Mandatory evacuations remained in place between the now pre-evacuation zone and the Wet Mountains.
As of Wednesday morning, mandatory evacuations remained in effect for Fremont County, according to the evacuation map. The evacuation area included Williamsburg, Rockvale and Coal Creek and was bordered to the west by Locke Mountain, to the south by Wetmore, to the east by Ritchie Gulch and to the north by Florence and Brookside.
Updated evacuation information for Pueblo and Custer counties and for Fremont County can be found online.
Evacuated residents can seek shelter at the Pueblo County Recreation Center, 1650 Cooper Place; the Wetmore Community Center, 95 County Road 393; or at Pathfinder Park in Florence, 6655 Colorado 115.
The following roads remained closed for the fire as of Tuesday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation:
- Colorado 96 in both directions between Silver Cliff and Siloam Road west of Pueblo
- Southbound Colorado 67 between the Fremont County line and Wetmore
- Colorado 165 in both directions between McKenzie Junction and Interstate 25
- Colorado 78 in both directions between Colorado 165 and Rock Creek Road west of Pueblo
The exact origin of the fire remains under investigation, but officials believe it was human-caused.
Gold Mountain fire near Ouray
The Gold Mountain fire had consumed 31,420 acres with 8% containment as of Tuesday evening, fire officials said.
As of Wednesday, 976 personnel were on scene to fight the wildfire, according to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3, which is leading the fire response.
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Higher humidity, increased cloud cover and light rain helped limit the wildfire’s spread on Tuesday, according to a Wednesday morning update from fire officials. Flames continued to burn within the perimeter, but firefighters reported minimal growth, the update stated.
Mandatory evacuations remained in place Monday north and west of the fire, according to Ouray County’s evacuation map.
The western evacuation zone includes Lake Lenore and is bordered to the west by U.S. 550, to the north by Cutler Creek, to the east by the wildfire burn area and to the south by Bridalveil Creek. The northern evacuation zone is bordered to the west by Ouray County Road 8 and Ouray County Road 10, to the north by Tommy Creek, to the east by Lou Creek Pass and to the south by Baldy Peak and the wildfire.
Evacuations were also ordered northeast of the Cimarron Ridge, along the border of Gunnison and Montrose counties, according to the map.
Evacuated residents can seek shelter at the Ridgway Secondary School, 1200 Green St., according to county officials.
Ferris fire in San Juan National Forest, near Dolores
New evacuations were issued Tuesday night for a 90-square-mile wildfire burning in and near the San Juan National Forest north of Dolores.
The Ferris fire grew by 9 square miles on Tuesday, consuming an estimated 57,356 acres in southwestern Colorado. The growth forced new evacuations from Dolores County Road H.6 south to County Road P, from County Road 12 east to County Road 15 and along U.S. 491 south of County Road M, according to the Dolores County Office of Emergency Management.
As of Tuesday evening, the fire was 19% contained, fire officials said.
Lightning sparked three fires in the San Juan National Forest on June 27. Those fires then grew and merged into the Ferris fire. San Juan Incident Management Team 8 is leading the fire response.
Willow fire near Leadville
Little growth was reported on the Willow fire on Tuesday, and crews increased containment from 5% to 10%, fire officials said.
As of Tuesday evening, the fire had consumed roughly 4,333 acres, or about 7 square miles, according to California Team 7, which took command of the fire from Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 on Tuesday.
Mandatory evacuations remained in place on Tuesday for an area bordered to the north by Galena Mountain, to the west by Twining Peak, to the south by Echo Creek and to the east by the Arkansas River. Updated evacuation information can be found online.
Air quality alerts
The four fires have led to consistently worsening air quality across the state, prompting state health officials to issue advisories. The official warnings mostly cover central, west and southwest Colorado.
The newest alert from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will remain in effect until at least 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to the agency. That alert includes Chaffee, Custer, Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Fremont, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Lake, Mesa, Mineral, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Park, Pitkin, Pueblo, Saguache, San Juan, San Miguel and Summit counties.
If the smoke drops visibility to less than 5 miles in an area, it has reached unhealthy levels, state health officials said in the alert. Those with heart disease and respiratory illnesses, young children and older adults are more at risk.
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