Containment continued to increase on several major wildfires burning across Colorado on Sunday, and some residents who evacuated their homes nearly two weeks ago may finally be able to return home, fire officials said.
Beulah residents will tentatively be allowed to return home starting Monday, unless fire conditions change, . Residents must have obtained a re-entry card at the Disaster Assistance Center, 29 Lehigh Ave., to access their homes.
The Aspen Acres fire, Colorado’s largest active wildfire and the seventh-largest in state history, moved through Beluah roughly 12 days ago, and firefighters are feeling good about the area, Alaska Complex Incident Management Team Operations Section Chief Brad Washa said during a .
Together, Colorado’s four active wildfires — the Aspen Acres fire, Gold Mountain fire, Ferris fire and Willow fire — have consumed an estimated 203,923 acres, or 317 square miles. That’s more than twice the size 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
As of Sunday morning, the wildfire had consumed 98,100 acres, or just over 153 square miles, with 35% containment, according to fire officials. That burn area, which , is roughly the size of Denver.
The Aspen Acres fire had destroyed at least 851 structures as of Friday. It’s unclear how many of those are homes, but law enforcement in Pueblo and Custer counties previously announced that at least 337 homes and four businesses had been destroyed.
Beulah residents will tentatively be allowed to return home starting Monday, fire officials said. Residents must have obtained a re-entry card at the Disaster Assistance Center, 29 Lehigh Ave., to access their homes and should enter at a time based on their address, according to the Beulah Fire Protection and Ambulance District. Those times are:
- 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Homes on Central Avenue and Grand Avenue, including Mary Knoll and Mountain View
- 11 a.m. to noon: Homes on Ban Street, Cascade Avenue, Catalina Avenue, Cottonwood Drive, Davis Street, Fox Lane, Harmon Lane, Lake Avenue, Middle Creek Canyon, North Creek Cut Off, Pine Avenue, Sciota Street, School House Lane and Vine Mesa
- Noon to 1 p.m.: Homes between the 8200 and 8700 blocks of Highway 78, including Cemetery Road, Los Escapados, Pine Crest and Roosevelt Avenue
- 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Homes between the 8700 and 8900 blocks of Highway 78, including Beulah Highlands Road, Canon Drive, Columbine Road, Curtiz Lane, Glendale Road, Morton Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Squirrel Creek and Woodland Avenue
- 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Homes between 9088 Highway 78 and Cheyenne Drive, League Trail, Pueblo Mountain Park Road, Ula Trail, Ula Court, Watseka Avenue and Watseka Court
- 3 to 4 p.m.: Homes between 9090 Highway 78 and 9958 Highway 78, including Geronimo Avenue, Simonson Trail, Sioux Avenue and Apache Drive
- 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Homes between 5775 North Creek Road and 4632 North Creek Road, including Douglas Lane
Residents beyond 4632 North Creek Road will not be allowed to return home yet, according to Beluah Fire Protection and Ambulance District Officials.
Updated evacuation information for and for 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 Sunday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation:
- between Silver Cliff and Siloam Road west of Pueblo
- between the Fremont County line and Wetmore
- between McKenzie Junction and Interstate 25
- 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 had consumed 35,601 acres with 5% containment as of Sunday morning, fire officials said. That’s roughly 56 square miles.
As of Sunday, 1,006 personnel were on scene to fight the wildfire, according to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3, which is leading the fire response.
“Weather conditions on the fire will continue to be hot and dry, with near record-breaking temperatures,” . “Humidity will remain low today before slowly increasing with the potential for monsoonal moisture midweek.”
The fire remained active on Saturday, burning along the Cimarron Ridge and in the Nate Creek drainage area, fire officials said. Firefighters were focused Sunday on securing firelines and preventing reignition in parts of the burn area where flames had gone out, according to the update.
Evacuation orders were lifted southwest of the fire, but remained in place for residents of Ouray and Gunnison counties north of the fire on Sunday, according to .
The Ouray County evacuation zone was bordered to the west by County Road 8 and County Road 10, to the south by Baldy Peak, to the east by Green Mountain and the Cimarron Ridge and to the north by Tommy Creek and Deer Creek.
Evacuations were also in effect northeast of the Cimarron Ridge, along the border of Gunnison and Montrose counties, according to the map. That area is bordered to the north by Washboard Rock, to the east by Gunnison County Road 864A, to the south by Hampden Lake and to the west by Cimarron Ridge.
Montrose County residents north of the mandatory evacuation zone and Gunnison County residents to the east of the zone were on pre-evacuation status at that time.
Pre-evacuation orders remained in effect for the previously evacuated area west of the wildfire’s southern burn area, including Lake Lenore and 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.
Evacuated residents can seek shelter at the Ridgway Secondary School, 1200 Green St., according to county officials.
The cause of the Gold Mountain fire, which sparked shortly after 5:30 p.m. on June 27, remains under investigation
Ferris fire in San Juan National Forest, near Dolores
As of Sunday morning, the had consumed an estimated 64,369 acres, or 101 square miles, in and near the San Juan National Forest north of Dolores. At that time, the flames were 23% 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.
The fire was most active Saturday on the northwestern edge, according to a .
As of Sunday, mandatory evacuations remained in effect north and east of Dove Creek, . The evacuation area was bordered to the east by Big Canyon, to the north by the border of San Miguel and Dolores counties, to the west by Colorado 141 and to the south by Road H.6.
Across the San Juan National Forest, mandatory evacuations were also in place for the Glade Ranch area. That area was bordered to the south by Trimble Spring, to the west by Narraguinnep Mountain, to the north by Thomas Mountain and to the east by Bayless Ranches, according to the map.
Willow fire near Leadville
Containment continues to grow on a wildfire burning near Leadville in Lake County, according to fire officials.
As of Sunday morning, the Willow fire had consumed roughly 5,853 acres with 25% containment, according to Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4, which is leading the fire response. The burn area covers roughly 9 square miles.
Mandatory evacuations remained in place on Sunday for an area bordered to the north by Lonesome Lake and Isolation Lakes, to the west by Twining Peak, to the south by Echo Creek and to the east by East Tennessee Creek. .
The cause of the fire, which started on June 29, remains under investigation. As of Sunday morning, 745 personnel were on scene to fight the wildfire, according to an update from fire officials.
Air quality alerts
The four fires have led to consistently worsening air quality across the state, prompting state health officials to issue advisories. The 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. Monday, . That alert includes Montrose and Ouray 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.
An was also issued for the Front Range and will be in effect until at least 4 p.m. Sunday. That alert covers the urban corridor from Douglas County to Larimer and Weld counties, including the Denver and Boulder areas.
