President Donald Trump has approved the use of public assistance for Colorado counties affected by the Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain wildfires, which burned more than 140,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes in southern and western Colorado.
The federal aid will help Custer, Ouray and Pueblo counties cover the costs of debris removal and repairs to public infrastructure, including roads, water systems and electric grids, Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday.
“Coloradans hit by the Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain fires have shown incredible strength, but recovering from big disasters requires federal help,” Polis said in a statement. “Removing debris from homes and buildings destroyed is the most important step to begin rebuilding, and now that work can occur promptly and at no cost to homeowners, just as it did after the Marshall Fire.”
Polis made the formal request for federal aid to the White House on Aug. 23, after state and local officials worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to document and validate eligible damage. The state’s requests for individual assistance and FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding are still under review.
“Our work is not finished. Families lost homes and livelihoods in these fires, and individual assistance and hazard mitigation funding remain under review,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd said in a statement. “I will continue working with the administration and our state and local partners to get those requests across the finish line and make sure western and southern Colorado have the resources they need to recover.”
Dolores County is also listed in the disaster declaration as being affected by the Aspen Acres fire. It was affected by the , which burned nearly 65,000 acres there.
The Aspen Acres fire has burned more than 100,000 acres, or roughly 159 square miles, mostly in southwest Pueblo County. It is the seventh-largest wildfire in Colorado history. The Gold Mountain fire has burned nearly 40,000 acres, or 62 square miles, mostly in Ouray County.
