{"id":2270,"date":"2026-07-04T04:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2270"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:05:41","slug":"aspen-acres-fire-roars-across-27-square-miles-in-less-than-a-day-now-8th-largest-in-colorado-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2270","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Acres fire roars across 27 square miles in less than a day, now 8th largest in Colorado history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Aspen Acres fire burning in southern Colorado consumed another 27 square miles overnight and into Friday afternoon, forcing more evacuations and making it the eighth largest wildfire in state history.<\/p>\n

Read more Extreme heat bears down as America 250 celebrations ramp up. Trump heads to Mount Rushmore<\/a><\/p>\n

Firefighters across Colorado expect to face extreme fire conditions today as hot weather, single-digit humidity and wind makes wildfires more dangerous, officials said in Friday morning updates.<\/p>\n

The Custer County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced mandatory evacuations for the Wetmore area just before noon and told residents to leave immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fire is unpredictable and constantly changing,\u201d sheriff\u2019s officials said.<\/p>\n

The Pueblo County Sheriff\u2019s Office ordered new mandatory evacuations for Colorado City shortly before 1 a.m., including west of Interstate 25 between Huerfano County and Burnt Mill Road, west Hatchett Ranch and Burnt Mill Road. Mandatory evacuations remain in Ouray, Lake, Dolores, Pueblo and Custer counties.<\/p>\n

Emergency management officials southwest Colorado also ordered more mandatory evacuations for the Ferris fire after activity picked up Friday afternoon, including the area east of Montezuma County Road 16.<\/p>\n

Together, the Aspen Acres, Gold Mountain, Snyder, Ferris and Willow fires have charred 157,652 acres \u2014 more than 246 square miles \u2014 as of Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Jump to:<\/strong>\u00a0Aspen Acres fire |\u00a0Gold Mountain fire\u00a0|\u00a0Ferris fire | Willow fire\u00a0| Snyder fire | Air quality alerts<\/p>\n

Aspen Acres fire in Custer and Pueblo counties<\/h4>\n

Pueblo County residents near Colorado City and Wetmore were forced to evacuate on Friday as the Aspen Acres fire raced across 27 square miles in less than a day.<\/p>\n

Firefighters faced \u201cextreme fire behavior\u201d as the fire ran into Colorado City, up Table Mountain and to Bondurant Road, the Alaska Complex Incident Management Team said in an 8 a.m. update. Flames have consumed 73,366 acres, or 115 square miles, with no containment as of Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Pueblo County officials have not released information about damage caused by the fire overnight, but the fire officials said Colorado City was impacted and crews are working ahead of the flames to try to protect homes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnder what would pass for normal circumstances, we would expect temps to drop, relative humidity to go up and fire behavior to moderate overnight,\u201d incident command team spokesperson Al Nash said. \u201cWe really didn\u2019t see that until close to dawn today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fire officials have had reports of visibility as low as a half mile along I-25, Nash said.<\/p>\n

Sections of Lake Pueblo are closed to boaters so aircraft can scoop water for firefighting and may change throughout the day as the winds change.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterfering with operations will cause the aircraft to stop their suppression efforts. There is not another suitable body of water nearby for these aircraft to work out of,\u201d fire officials said.<\/p>\n

More than 10,000 people are now under mandatory evacuation orders in Pueblo and Custer counties because of the fire, including homes near Lake Pueblo State Park to the north, I-25 to the west and the county line to the south, according to the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Areas under mandatory evacuation include:<\/p>\n