A southern Colorado power company’s equipment was “a substantial factor” in starting and fueling the Aspen Acres fire, the state’s most destructive wildfire since the Marshall fire in 2021, a new lawsuit alleges.
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Frank Elmer, Rafael Velez and Seth and Stacy Johnson, a married couple, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Pueblo County District Court against the San Isabel Electric Association, an energy co-op, for damage they sustained from the fire, court records show.
Public safety officials have previously said they believed the Aspen Acres fire was human-caused, but that they had not determined what specifically sparked the wildfire.
Witnesses saw a fallen tree leaning on a power line near the Aspen Acres Campground and heard an explosion at about 6 a.m. June 29, according to the lawsuit. A video from another witness showed a fire burning under and near a power line in the area, the lawsuit stated.
Strong winds fueled the flames sparked by the power line, the lawsuit alleges.
The wildfire has consumed nearly 100,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and forced the evacuation of 30,000 residents, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that dozens of people were injured and at least one man died while fleeing the Aspen Acres fire, but fire officials have not confirmed any injuries or deaths.
The Colorado Division of Fire Protection and Control, which is investigating the cause of the fire, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
The San Isabel Electric Association owns and operates power lines in the area where the fire started, including south of the Aspen Acres Campground and along Colorado 165, according to the lawsuit. The power company “had a duty to mitigate wildfire risk by adequately clearing… trees and organic matter that can cause or facilitate wildfires,” the lawsuit stated.
Residents in the area fought and extinguished several power-line-related fires in the days leading up to the start of the Aspen Acres fire, the lawsuit alleges.
San Isabel Electric Association is aware of and is reviewing the lawsuit, spokesperson Paris Daugherty said Thursday. The company is currently working with fire officials to restore power to customers in the area, she said.
“Our focus is on safely and efficiently performing necessary repairs to our system and restoring service to those members,” Daugherty said. “We are also conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire, but will not comment on the substantive allegations contained in the complaint.”
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It’s unclear how many of the structures destroyed by the Aspen Acres fire are homes, but law enforcement in Pueblo and Custer counties previously announced that at least 337 homes and four businesses had been destroyed.
That alone makes it the most destructive wildfire in terms of homes lost since the 2021 Marshall fire and the fifth-most destructive in state history.
More than 4,000 people and companies in Boulder County sued Xcel Energy in the wake of the Marshall fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses. The utility settled the case in September for $640 million.
That wildfire, which started on the morning of Dec. 30, 2021, killed two people and more than 1,000 pets as it raced across 6,000 acres, consuming neighborhoods in Louisville and Superior.
Investigators with the Boulder County sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices determined the fire had two starting points that merged. One was on the property of the Twelve Tribes, a cult that owns property on Eldorado Springs Drive near Marshall Mesa, and another near a trailhead at Marshall Mesa, where hot particles sparked from a broken Xcel electrical distribution system and lines hit the ground.
No criminal charges were filed against Xcel or the Twelve Tribes.
Xcel officials have repeatedly denied responsibility for the Marshall fire before and after settling the civil case.
The Aspen Acres fire is also the seventh-largest on record in Colorado, behind the 108,045-acre Spring Creek fire sparked by an illegal campfire in 2018, according to the state’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
Elmer, Velez and the Johnsons live in Pueblo and Custer counties and are “among those terrorized and damaged” by the Aspen Acres fire, according to the lawsuit. The four suffered significant property damage, economic loss and bodily injury from the fire, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit accuses the San Isabel Electric Association of “negligence and nuisance” and of “putting profits over public safety.”
The company’s electrical system design — transporting electricity from its power plant to substations through high-voltage transmission lines — and nearby trees caused the electricity to arc and spark the fire, the lawsuit alleges.
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
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