Polis announced Sunday that he has submitted a formal request for a federal disaster declaration that would open Colorado to assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, approval is given at the president’s discretion, and when Colorado asked for help in 2025, President Donald Trump denied it.

Polis submitted a 50-page letter outlining Colorado’s case and how it complies with federal law that governs disaster assistance.

In a news release, Polis said Colorado officials had assessed the damage “correctly and by the book” to support the communities that suffered from the wildfires.

“These disasters clearly meet all the requirements for a major disaster declaration, and the flooding and debris flows that followed have caused further destruction and claimed a life,” Polis said. “Colorado has committed significant resources to this response, but the scale of this disaster requires a strong partnership among federal, state and local governments for a successful recovery.”

Typically, presidential approval for a state’s request for help following natural disasters is routine.

President Joe Biden approved federal aid for the 2021 Marshall fire in Boulder County within hours of the state’s request for help. President Barack Obama gave his blessing for the federal assistance within a few days of the catastrophic Front Range floods in 2013.

But Trump denied Colorado’s request for federal disaster assistance for the 2025 Elk and Lee fires in northwestern Colorado and for flooding on the Western Slope. The state appealed the first denial only to have that appeal turned down, too.

The denial was the first for Colorado in 35 years, and it caught state officials off guard.

The previous denial came from President George H.W. Bush, who declined assistance after an F3 tornado on June 11, 1990, that caused an estimated $20 million in damages in Limon, according to .

Federal aid would help Pueblo, Custer and Ouray counties rebuild roads, water treatment plants, parks and other public services that were damaged or destroyed by the two wildfires. Rural electric cooperatives would qualify for assistance in rebuilding lost power lines and transmission stations, said Kevin Klein, director of the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Federal dollars would also be available to people whose houses were uninsured, bringing much needed help to residents who cannot afford to rebuild their mountain homes. It is unclear how many people who lost homes did not carry insurance, but The Denver Post talked to multiple people in Beulah who said they and their neighbors were denied insurance coverage because of the wildfire risk. Secondary homes would not be covered by federal disaster aid.

In Beulah, people not only lost homes in the Aspen Acres fire, but they also have suffered from flooding on the burn scar, which has sent mud, fallen trees and debris from burned houses into the valley,  ruining people’s floors, walls and furniture.

The Aspen Acres fire ignited on June 29 in Custer County and then spread to Pueblo and Fremont counties, where it has to date burned more than 102,000 acres, ranking it the seventh largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history. The fire is 74% contained and is burning in unpopulated areas of rugged terrain.

The Aspen Acres fire destroyed 329 houses and another 62 were damaged, according to the governor’s letter. The wildfire also destroyed hundreds of other buildings such as barns, garages and work sheds. Those outbuildings would not qualify property owners for federal disaster money.

Of those destroyed homes, 208 were in Beulah, and 85 homes burned in unincorporated Custer County, which accounts for 2% of the county’s entire housing stock, the governor’s letter stated.

“These losses were inflicted on two rural counties with limited housing inventory, a high proportion of older residents on fixed incomes, and a documented pattern of underinsurance,” Polis’s letter stated.

The San Isabel Electric Cooperative, which provides electricity to 24,000 people in seven southern Colorado counties, lost millions of dollars of equipment such as power lines, transformers and distribution infrastructure.

The Gold Mountain fire started on June 28 in Ouray County and has burned 39,500 acres and is 87% contained. While that fire burned largely on public land, it destroyed five homes and damaged five others. But most f the destruction followed flooding from its burn scar.

U.S. 550 between Ouray and Ridgway has been closed repeatedly as debris flowed off the burn scar and buried the roadway and clogged culverts. Mudslides on Red Mountain Pass closed the highway between Ouray and Silverton.

“Because U.S. 550 is the only route in this corridor, each closure isolates residents from medical care, employment, and emergency services,” the governor’s letter said. “The closures ruptured the region’s tourism economy at the height of its high summer season.”

Trump is willing to withhold federal funding from Colorado in what many argue is political retaliation over the state’s support for Democratic presidential candidates and its mail-in voting system.

He has stripped hundreds of millions of dollars from Colorado, including grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy, which is led by Coloradan Chris Wright. The administration also wants to close the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and to move other federal agencies out of state.

Earlier this month, The Post reported that the White House in late 2025 held a meeting with five agency leaders to discuss what they could do about Colorado as Trump berated Polis over former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters’ imprisonment. Peters was found guilty in 2024 of four felonies and three misdemeanors in connection with her scheme to allow an unauthorized person access to the county’s voting machines.

An email about the December meeting was disclosed during a federal court hearing over a Colorado lawsuit alleging retaliation by the Trump administration. State officials argue that retaliation was motivated by the president����ap frustration with Peters’ incarceration and by the state’s mail-in balloting system.

Even if Polis’s disaster request is denied, the state will do all it can to help the communities recover, Klein said.

“This is about the survivors and what we can do to help them and the communities rebuild,” he said. “That����ap where our focus is and that����ap where our focus will remain.”

Bennet made the request in a Thursday morning letter to Sen. John Thune, the Republican majority leader, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader. It follows for the inspectors general of several federal agencies to investigate whether federal resources were used to target the state.

The request comes a week after attorneys for the state of Colorado disclosed a December email from a White House aide summoning officials from several agencies to discuss “immediate actions that your department or agency can take with respect to Colorado.” The email was then followed by funding cuts, the proposed closure of Boulder’s National Center for Atmospheric Research and the denial of disaster assistance funds.

Echoing allegations raised by attorneys for the state, who called the email a “smoking gun,” Bennet in his letter to Senate leadership accused the Trump administration of targeting the state because of Tina Peters’ then-continued incarceration. Attorneys for the state have also argued that Colorado had also drawn the president’s ire because of its mail-in balloting system and its laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

In court filings, the administration has argued that it’s not unusual for the federal government to “make decisions based on political or geographic considerations.” The White House has denied that Colorado officials’ refusal to release or transfer Peters played a part in the email or subsequent administrative decisions.

An ally of President Donald Trump, Peters was serving a prison sentence for her role in giving an unauthorized person access to secure voting equipment in Mesa County. Her sentence was commuted by Gov. Jared Polis in May, and she was released June 1.

Bennet said that presidential administrations were entitled to advance their political priorities but that they couldn’t “dictate terms to states.” Three constitutional law professors told The Denver Post last week that the email — and the coordinated effort it appeared to reveal — was unprecedented and likely illegal. One also warned about a permanent rupture of trust between state and federal authorities, an argument that Bennet also stressed.

“Allowing this unconstitutional overreach to go unchallenged sets a dangerous precedent, and unsettles the relationship between states and the federal government,” Bennet wrote. “No state should ever be subject to punitive measures for decisions that simply happen to go against a sitting president’s desires — and no American should be denied relief from floods and wildfires, or see their opportunity for clean water ripped away, simply because they happen to live in a state at odds with a given administration.”

Emails sent to Thune and Schumer’s offices were not immediately returned Thursday morning.

The December email, first reported last week by The Post, was read aloud in federal court on Aug. 11, and a copy was released in federal filings Wednesday.

Under the subject line “brainstorm call,” the email was sent by a Trump assistant to 14 federal officials and White House aides. The recipients included the chiefs of staff for the departments of energy, education, transportation, interior and agriculture. A deputy secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development was also included, as was a White House lawyer and an associate director for the Office of Management and Budget.

Federal action against Colorado rolled out quickly after the brainstorm session. The next day, the Energy Department’s deputy general counsel summoned several people to a “portfolio review” meeting requested by the White House, according to additional records filed in federal court. Several emails withheld by the Justice Department, but described in a log turned over to the state, involved Energy Department staff discussing the portfolio review and “potential termination” of grants to Colorado in the days after the email.

Officials from within the U.S. Department of Agriculture swapped similar emails soon after the White House meeting. The log shows senior agency officials emailing each other about a new pilot program, which would have required Colorado to swiftly recertify Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility for 100,000 recipients. Some emails also included Emily Underwood, an assistant to Trump and the author of the initial “brainstorm” email.

Re: “A big test for state’s insurance reforms,” August 16 news story.

Coloradans living in the mountains, and most others, continue to rearrange the deck chairs on their burning ship. Instead of addressing the root cause of human-caused climate change – greenhouse gases – they look for an insurance solution. They will not find one.

Private insurance companies exist to make money. The actuaries they employ to calculate premiums deal in cold, hard numbers. The more buildings that burn, the higher premiums will go until few, if any, will be able to afford insurance.

Colorado has instituted its FAIR insurance program for properties that are uninsurable. The FAIR plan only covers the actual cash value of a home. This is replacement cost minus depreciation.

General accounting practices assign a useful life to a property’s assets of between 20 years and 50 years. So, if a person builds a $750k house in a forest, insures it with the FAIR plan, and it burns 10 years later, the payout would be replacement cost minus 36.4%, not to exceed $750,000 under any circumstances.

So, the choices are not good for mountain property owners. Either “go naked” (no insurance) or pay for the FAIR plan, which is designed not to cover actual replacement costs.

But these are deck chair issues. The northern hemisphere is literally on fire this summer. Since humans like to avoid uncomfortable actions to correct problems of their own making, there will be years of disasters before meaningful action is taken to reduce greenhouse gases, and the costs associated with this will only increase the longer we wait.

Guy Wroble, Denver

Didn’t build fire-resistant? Here’s the next best thing

Re: “Colorado communities should use new tools to protect themselves from wildfire,” August 15 guest commentary.

I read the guest commentary on August 15 by Ryan Maye Handy about Colorado’s new mandatory wildfire building code, requiring new homes in high-risk areas to be built with materials that resist flames and wind-blown embers. She acknowledges that older homes did not use the new mandatory codes.

There are important measures current homeowners can take to reduce fire risk by using landscape design with defensible space, best practices and ignition-resistant plants. Did you know that our ubiquitous juniper bushes that you see in so many communities are high in resins that ignite quickly?

Colorado State University Extension has information about choosing low-ignition plants. They also have a low-flammability demonstration garden at the Lookout Mountain Nature Center and Preserve in Golden. Colorado State Forest Service field offices have wildfire mitigation recommendations for creating space between potential fuel sources and structures.

So, even if you own a house built before these new codes are enacted, you can take measures to reduce your fire risk by using some of these guides.

Nancy Shepard, Westminster

Protect our lands from literal and figurative arsonists

Re: “Fed job cuts are making wildfires harder to fight”, August 15 news story.

Since last year, the Trump administration has cut 5,800 Forest Service jobs, making it harder to prepare for and respond to this year’s intense wildfire season. While we don’t yet know what the toll will be in lives lost, homes and businesses destroyed, and forests turned into moonscapes, we should be asking elected federal officials and candidates for federal office what they will do to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Federal job cuts, the rollback of programs addressing the climate crisis, and the continued expansion of the fossil fuel and artificial intelligence industries have all contributed to the devastation from fires we see and read about in the news every day.

The people responsible have names like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Russell Vought, Chris Wright, Darren Woods, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman. We try, convict, fine, and imprison arsonists. We need to do the same with these arsonists of our public lands and communities.

J. Kevin Cross, Fort Collins

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“When water is in short supply, trees shut down and prepare for the winter season on an accelerated timeline,” said Barbara Demmig-Adams, a University of Colorado professor and an expert on leaf pigments. “They drop their leaves early, with leaf edges turning brown especially quickly.”

The experts at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department who monitor foliage that wildlife eat are already seeing this happen, said spokesperson Bridget O’Rourke.

“Because of the wildfires and the drought, animals are dealing with limited habitat. Things just started drying up,” O’Rourke said. “That means the leaves, when it comes for their final beautiful breath before they die, there’s not as many leaves out there that are actually going to be changing colors. They’re just going to be drying up and falling.”

O’Rourke said she expects trees in Colorado’s alpine terrain to start changing by mid-September and be completely done by mid-October, depending on the region. When the aspens hit peak, they will be bright gold for a shorter period of time, she said.

In the summer, trees’ leaves are green because of the chlorophyll they use to collect and process nutrients via photosynthesis. Chlorophyll contains nitrogen, which trees transfer and store in their roots in the fall before dropping their leaves. The removal of chlorophyll allows carotenoid, or yellow, pigments to show right before the leaves die, said Demmig-Adams.

Last winter’s record-low snowpack and the subsequent drought will hasten that process not only at high elevations, but also lower ones, Demmig-Adams added. That includes in Denver where the oaks and maples usually turn later in the fall.

Fall colors: Here’s the science behind the reds, golds and oranges

As of Aug. 11, was experiencing some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 14% was listed as experiencing “exceptional drought” — the highest level — including mountainous areas such as all of Eagle County, Pitkin County, and Lake County.

If all this sounds familiar, that's because Colorado was in a similar, though less severe, situation last summer when about 70% of the state was experiencing drought, per U.S. Drought Monitor. Compare that to 2023, described by one local expert as a “banner year” for leaf-peeping when just 28% of the state was in drought, and it����ap easy to see the correlation between moisture and fall colors.

That doesn't mean it won't be worth getting out there to enjoy the changing of seasons. In fact, there are a whole host of scenic drives and hikes we'd recommend. Heck, take some PTO and you could chart an entire road trip inspired by leaf-peeping.

Those looking for guidance on when the foliage will peak can use 2025 as a loose reference, accounting for the fact that drought is worse this year.

Mountains in the northern part of the state often peak first; last year, the expected peak was around Sept. 20. Colors in the central mountains — Summit County, Eagle County and the Interstate 70 corridor — popped off around the last weekend of September, while the southern mountains peaked in early October.

As the color change gets underway, locals can also follow the for real-time updates. If you plan to visit a state park, O'Rourke recommends calling ahead of time to ask a ranger for status updates.

Trees and bushes aren’t the only parts of nature that depend on water. Wildlife may also be extra protective around their natural resources this year, O’Rourke said. She cautioned leaf-peepers to be careful not to get too close to moose in wetlands or elk during the rut. Bears are also much more active this year, as the drought has diminished natural food sources.

“We, unfortunately, see elk and moose attacks every single fall. If it����ap going to be limited water resources, it����ap safe to say they’ll be even more sensitive this fall,” O’Rourke said.

Also, be sure to adhere to continued forest closures where wildfires took place this summer and check the appropriate U.S. Forest Service district website where you want to visit for the latest information.

The man was standing near the intersection of Colorado 78 and Central Avenue when he was swept away by strong floodwaters, according to a from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office. Beulah Fire Protection and Ambulance District personnel tried to rescue the man, but the flooding rushed him downstream.

A Flight for Life helicopter crew spotted the man’s body in a creek roughly two miles away, sheriff’s officials said. Rescuers hiked to the victim, but he had already died, according to the office.

The man will be identified by the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office.

“Our hearts are heavy today as we confirm the tragic loss of life resulting from this afternoon’s flooding in Beulah,” Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said in a statement. “I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and those affected by this tragic loss.”

Roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of rain fell over the Beulah area in 90 minutes on Sunday, sheriff’s officials said. A flood watch went into effect for the Aspen Acres burn scar at noon and will remain active until 8 p.m. Sunday, .

“Flash flooding and debris flows caused by excessive rainfall continue to be possible over the Aspen Acres burn scar,” forecasters wrote in the watch.

This is the beginning of monsoon season, and more rain is expected, sheriff’s officials said. Residents should take precautions to protect themselves and their families, “especially since flooding around the burn-scarred terrain can escalate rapidly,” officials stated.

Residents should stay away from flooded roadways and waterways, and should move to higher ground immediately if flood conditions worsen, according to the release.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

On June 29, he had fled in an old pickup truck as the Aspen Acres fire raced toward his home. It burned 30 minutes later.

Now, the 88-year-old Griggs, who had no homeowners insurance and little savings, doesn’t believe he’ll be able to live in a house of his own again.

“At my age, I don’t think I’ll be able to rebuild,” he said. “My heart tells me that.”

As Griggs walked the property on Tuesday, he marveled at an antique, cast iron Fisher stove that had heated his home for nearly 60 years. It was the only thing in the house that withstood the intense flames.

The home was built in 1876 as a stagecoach inn. Griggs moved there as a young man after he married, and on the land he raised a family, built an in-ground swimming pool, tinkered with old cars and chopped firewood for that old stove while working at a steel mill in Pueblo and as a gravedigger at the Beulah cemetery.

“The only way to look at all of this is the good Lord made it and he took it away,” he said.

The Aspen Acres fire, the in recorded state history, destroyed more than 300 homes as it tore through 102,000 acres across four counties since igniting on June 29. The wildfire was 72% contained as of Friday, burning in remote areas and no longer threatening homes. Colorado insurance commissioner Michael Conway told The Denver Post that the fire will be “one of the first big tests” of the legislative measures passed since 2021’s Marshall fire — laws designed to provide insurance coverage to homeowners who have been denied and to make policies more affordable for everyone.

That insurance coverage is more critical than ever, with the Trump administration not inclined to support Colorado with federal disaster assistance during emergencies, and state and local government budgets stretched thin.

Officials do not yet know how many of the homes destroyed by the Aspen Acres fire were uninsured, but the Griggs family’s story is indicative of the struggles Coloradans face in buying coverage for their properties. The insurance crisis is driven by the growing threat of severe weather in the drought-stricken state, as climate change fuels more powerful storms and aggressive wildfires.

Bob Griggs could not find a company willing to write a policy for his 150-year-old home, where the only sources of heat were that old wood-burning stove in his living room and another in the kitchen.

“They said it was a cracker box,” he said.

Meanwhile, his son and daughter-in-law, Donald Griggs and Nicole Richardson-Griggs, had insurance on their newer home, which was a football field’s length away on the same property.

They paid about $16,000 a year to insure the property, Richardson-Griggs said. And now they are tangling with the carrier to be reimbursed for what they lost. The family held a $420,000 policy for their home, and the Pueblo County tax assessor valued it at $380,000. Their insurance company offered $240,000 after the fire, Richardson-Griggs said.

The insurer offered to pay 65% of the total value of all the possessions inside their home, such as appliances, furniture and tools. The family is already stressed about how long it will take to rebuild and how they will pay for temporary housing, even though state law requires insurance companies to pay for living expenses for people displaced by fires and other natural disasters.

Richardson-Griggs said the ordeal makes her angry and disappointed.

“We pay a lot of money,” she said. “They’re offering half what the fair market value is. Last night, I just had to pray a lot about it.”

Legislative action and a FAIR Plan

The push for reforms began in earnest after the Marshall fire in Boulder County destroyed 1,084 homes worth a combined half-billion dollars in December 2021, exposing shortfalls in people’s insurance coverage that made rebuilding a challenge.

At the same time, people who own homes in Colorado’s mountain towns were finding it increasingly difficult to buy insurance due to the ever-present wildfire threat. Some people reported they could not find coverage at all, while others saw their premiums skyrocket.

The state legislature jumped into action as people demanded help.

The recent reforms included the requirement to provide 36 months of additional living expenses as well as a change in how insurance companies reimburse people for their lost possessions after a wildfire. If a person loses a home in a wildfire declared a disaster by the governor, the insurance company must offer 65% of the value upfront without requiring an inventory of the home’s contents.

One big addition to Colorado’s insurance landscape was the creation of the FAIR Plan — a state-backed insurance plan that serves as a last resort for those who cannot otherwise find property insurance. The plan is less than two years old and, thus far, has fewer than 300 participants, said Kelly Campbell, the FAIR Plan’s executive director.

The FAIR Plan is intended to insure homes only when an owner cannot find a policy on the regular market. And it only offers bare-bones coverage — a maximum of $750,000 for the home’s cash value. It does not provide liability, water damage or theft coverage. Customers must find separate policies to cover the possessions inside their homes or pay for additional living expenses elsewhere.

“It’s still a safety-net policy,” Campbell said.

When Colorado created the FAIR Plan, Campbell and her staff were not sure how many homeowners would buy into it, but they anticipated selling more than 300 policies, she said, noting that the number of insured homes and commercial buildings fluctuates as people find other options.

“It����ap always hard to know what to expect,” Campbell said. “It was difficult to know for sure how many people truly didn’t have options for coverage.”

Only one of the homes that burned in the Aspen Acres fire was insured under the FAIR Plan, and that represented the program’s first payout since the state started writing policies in April 2025, she said.

The Aspen Acres fire has been labeled a “catastrophic disaster” by the state because of the extensive damage. It’s unclear how many other buildings, such as barns and detached garages, were damaged or destroyed, but estimates have been close to 850 total structures.

A dollar amount has not yet been placed on the property damage, and Conway said it is too early to understand how many people did not have insurance. But he is trying to prevent more people in the fire zone from losing their homeowners coverage.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced it wants to place on policy cancellations and non-renewals in the Aspen Acres fire territory, saying the state needs to protect homeowners from unfair discrimination by insurance carriers. The division is asking for public comment on the proposed emergency regulation by Monday. Those comments can be emailed to DORA_Ins_RulesandRecords@state.co.us.

“Without the protections provided for in this emergency regulation, such homeowner policyholders could have their insurance policies canceled or nonrenewed at their greatest time of need and could face extreme financial duress should their residence be impacted by the Aspen Acres wildfire,” the division’s request for comment states.

‘This president is not the biggest fan of Colorado’

Fire recovery is slow and complicated as people piece together resources to help put their lives back together.

During the Marshall fire, it took a combination of insurance payouts, federal disaster loans, nonprofit assistance, local government cooperation and community goodwill to rebuild the fire-ravaged sections of Louisville and Superior.

But there’s one piece of that financial puzzle that is no longer a guarantee in Colorado: federal disaster assistance.

The Marshall fire ignited on Dec. 20, 2021, and the next day President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration, opening the gates for millions in federal assistance to public agencies and individuals.

President Donald Trump has been less willing to help Colorado fire victims.

In April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied Colorado’s appeal for a similar declaration for the Lee and Elk fires, which burned last summer in the northwest corner of the state, and for flooding on the Western Slope. It was the first time in 35 years the state was denied federal assistance for a major disaster.

Aspen Acres fire victims, especially those without insurance, are waiting to learn whether or not the federal government will step up this time.

State officials asked FEMA for a joint preliminary damage assessment, which was conducted the first week of August, Joshua Johnson, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office emergency management coordinator, told residents at a community meeting Tuesday night.

Once that report is complete, Gov. Jared Polis can ask the president for the major disaster declaration, which would trigger federal money to help individuals and public agencies. The governor has 30 days from the end of the incident to make the request.

On Tuesday night, Johnson tried to temper expectations in Beulah.

“This isn’t a political statement, but as you may or may not know, this president is not the biggest fan of Colorado,” he said. “There is a chance we may not get anything.”

Johnson also talked about pressure on Pueblo County’s budget when residents asked whether there was any local money to help. He cited as an example the fact that the county spent $60,000 on dumpsters so people could throw away spoiled food and other possessions ruined when they evacuated and lost electricity.

‘Here comes the flood’

A failure to receive federal aid could hurt people like Paul and Christine Taft, a couple whose Beulah home survived the flames but was swamped by floodwaters a few weeks later.

The Tafts have property insurance, which paid out after the Aspen Acres fire burned a barn and a work shed, Christine Taft said.

But that policy does not cover floods.

When the couple was warned about potential flooding across the burn scar, they decided to buy a flood policy. The company that insures their house said no. So Christine Taft started making calls. She bought a policy on July 20 that came with a 10-day waiting period, which means they would have flood insurance effective at midnight July 30.

But a rainstorm over the mountains surrounding the Beulah Valley sent water and fire debris rolling toward their house around 7 p.m. July 29, just hours before that policy kicked in. The water, which carried burned trees, loose dirt and fire-scarred items from homes higher up, poured over the banks of Squirrel Creek, which splits their property, Christine Taft said.

“I saw this wall coming at me,” she said.

Christine Taft escaped with their two dogs, walking through knee-deep water and losing her shoes as she traversed the mud.

The couple received help from the to rip out ruined floors and scrape mud off the walls. But they have not figured out a long-term solution to get back into their house, in part because more flooding is expected.

The couple had been creating an itemized list of Paul Taft’s tools that were lost when the shed and barn burned, compiling receipts and replacement costs, so they can be reimbursed by their insurance company. But the floodwaters destroyed those documents, and now they must start over.

On Wednesday, the couple filled 300 sandbags in anticipation of the next wave of thunderstorms forecast at the end of the week.

The Tafts are using the insurance money they already received for living expenses, she said. She also visited the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities to find out what financial assistance might be available.

It’s a disheartening situation, Christine Taft said.

“We are looking out for ourselves, knowing where we live in this wildland urban interface,” she said. “We made it through the fire and then here comes the flood. How much more can a person handle? And here we are asking for help.”

Climate change, hail and drought

The wildfire risk across Colorado is not improving any time soon. An extended statewide drought, hot and windy weather, and forests ransacked by pine beetles persist, making conditions ripe for fires.

An estimated 301,308 residential properties in Colorado, valued at more than $146 billion, are at a moderate or great risk of wildfire, according to the , which is used by insurers. Colorado ranks second in the nation to California when it comes to wildfire risk, the report said.

Yet severe hailstorms are a bigger threat in Colorado, driving insurance costs even higher for property owners. Earlier this year, the state Division of Insurance surveyed 20 insurance carriers and determined that hail damage accounts for an average of 26% to 54% of the total homeowner insurance premium, depending on the county.

All of these conditions are driven by climate change, which makes wildfires burn hotter and faster and causes more severe storms.

It’s the changing climate that is leading Evon Davis to reconsider how she will live on her family’s mountainside land in Beulah after the Aspen Acres fire destroyed a home her father, a school teacher, started building in the 1960s.

Her father, Wes Davis, 92, had taken steps to mitigate wildfire risk by cutting down trees and other forest growth near the house. But when the Aspen Acres fire roared over a ridge and downhill toward their house, it didn’t make a difference.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop it,” she said.

The Davis family lost insurance coverage about 10 years ago when their carrier dropped their policy due to the fire risk. When asked if she had considered Colorado’s FAIR Plan, Davis said she had only recently heard of it, then shrugged and said, “But it won’t do me any good now.”

The Griggs family said they had never heard of the FAIR Plan.

Campbell, who runs the state’s insurance-of-last-resort program, acknowledged that more consumer education is needed so Coloradans know it is available.

The plan does not directly sell policies. Instead, they are sold through registered agents. The state plan last week issued more educational material to those agents and asked them to tell their clients about it, she said. And the staff sent material to state legislators so they could talk to constituents.

“Traditionally in FAIR plans, because it����ap safety-net coverage, you don’t do a lot of marketing,” Campbell said. “We want to make sure they know about it. If they don’t know about it, it’s not an option.”

Carole Walker, executive director of the , said the state’s FAIR Plan is working well from the industry’s perspective.

“We didn’t want people to turn to the FAIR Plan if they didn’t have to,” she said. “We’ve always hoped it wouldn’t go the way of California and there wouldn’t be a run on the FAIR Plan. We just want it to be a pressure valve release.”

The industry’s research shows that secondary homes in high-risk areas are more likely to be uninsured than primary residences, Walker said.

“They tend to be paid off and that����ap when people gamble on self-insurance rather than paying the higher cost of insurance,” she said.

But she warns people about the risk.

“What you need to understand when that bad day comes — the unthinkable — is: will you have that money not only to rebuild, but can you afford to replace the contents?” Walker said. “And the cost to live elsewhere is expensive.”

‘This is generational land’

On Davis’s hillside, there were four other houses; none was insured, she said.

“It’s not like they couldn’t afford it or didn’t want it,” Davis said. “They couldn’t get it. All of these houses were paid for. There were no mortgages.”

All of those homeowners are similar to Davis’ father — older Beulah residents whose families had owned land and mountain cabins for decades. Their homes were not like the large estates found in wealthier Colorado mountain towns, but smaller structures where their blue-collar families went to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

“This is generational land,” Davis said.

The Davis family home was valued at $210,000 by the Pueblo County tax assessor, she said.

That amount doesn’t include all the furniture, appliances, tools and clothes that were destroyed. Rusted saw blades and shards of pottery were scattered in the blackened earth on Tuesday as Davis walked the land.

The home was Davis’s retirement plan. She spent most of the year in Beulah but retreated to Arizona during the winter to live in a nomadic community.

Now, she’s homeless and isn’t sure what her future living arrangements will entail. She and her father don’t have the money to build another home. The house was constructed during a time when there were fewer regulations and less code enforcement. That wouldn’t be the case now, and it would cost far more than $210,000 to replace it.

Like many who lost homes in the Aspen Acres fire, Davis is asking for financial help through So far, she’s received less than $5,000.

She would like to live in Beulah again and is considering a camper, a hut similar to those at Colorado state park campgrounds, or a tiny house.

But one thing is certain — the Davis family will not rebuild another traditional mountain home that cannot be insured.

“Even if I had insurance, I wouldn’t rebuild a house like that again,” she said. “You’re just asking for it to burn down again.”

As for the Griggs family, they also have  to raise money. Thus far, they have collected $4,850 to help Bob Griggs, who they call “Grandpa Bob.”

For now, Bob Griggs is living in a rented Airbnb with his son and daughter-in-law in Pueblo. He will not be homeless, Richardson-Griggs said. But it’s unclear what the future home for the three of them will look like.

“I don’t know what we’re going to be able to afford,” she said.

Mandatory evacuations were issued shortly after 3 p.m. Monday for homes on Passing Sky Drive, and road closures were in effect for Bradley Road, Grinnell Boulevard and Goldfield Drive, . The evacuations and closures were less than an hour later.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but a “loud lightning strike” was reported in the area shortly before the flames were spotted, .

Fire department officials said the flames were burning in a field east of Grinnell Boulevard, on the north side of Fountain Valley School. Weather rolling through the area brought “very erratic winds,” causing “unpredictable fire spread,” agency officials said.

The fire was contained to roughly 40 acres, according to the fire department.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

As of Sunday morning, the had burned an estimated 6,760 acres and was 36% contained, .

The lightning-sparked wildfire was first reported on July 9, but saw a sudden increase in activity last week. Containment around the wildfire dropped from 42% as the fire exploded in size, racing across more than 4 square miles and nearly doubling its footprint in two days.

But crews have started to regain control around part of the fire’s perimeter, increasing containment from 34% on Saturday to 36% on Sunday, fire officials said.

As of Sunday, remained in place for the San Juan Springs subdivision, . That includes homes on San Juan Springs Drive, Rocky Springs Drive, Silver Springs Drive, Elk Road, Deer Trail and Eagle Drive.

Downtown Lake City, the San Juan Ranch Estates, the Ball Flats neighborhood, the Lake City Heights subdivision, homes from Henson Creek Bridge south of Lake City to Pleasant View properties and homes west of Colorado 149 all remained on preevacuation status, according to county officials.

“Anyone living in these areas that currently feels unsafe due to the recent activity of the Elk Fire or the increase in smoke in the air should consider voluntarily evacuating at any time,” .

Those who need additional time to evacuate should also consider leaving, county officials said.

Crews are focusing on protecting homes and structures closest to the fire, which is primarily growing to the west, said in a . The goal is to steer the fire away from Lake City.

Elevated fire danger is expected through Sunday, which could increase the fire’s growth and send new waves of smoke into the sky, according to the update.

“Moderating weather conditions are expected to move into the area Monday, with potential for increased clouds, higher relative humidity, and possible precipitation throughout the week,” officials wrote in the update.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Wildfires burning across the western U.S. and Canada on Sunday left some residents keeping a weary eye out for possible evacuation orders while others already waited to see what would be left on their return.

In western Canada, over 20,000 people were forced to flee communities along Okanagan Lake in British Columbia over the weekend as a fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and dozens had to be rescued by aircraft.

Anette Boulet was among residents who fled Summerland, home to about 12,000 people. As she and her family left around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, their home was shrouded in smoke.

“You couldn’t see barely. It was, it was just dark, and the ridge, the ridge of fire just coming towards you,” said Boulet, who evacuated to a center in Penticton.

“There’s no words to express it,” she said. “The fear.”

Besides the evacuations in Summerland, the Bald Range fire, first reported Friday evening, has also led to the evacuation of about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland. declared a state of emergency Saturday because of the wildfires.

Eleanor Olszewski, Canada’s minister of emergency management and community resilience, said Sunday on social media that she’d approved a request for federal assistance from British Columbia to provide shelter and accommodations for those forced to flee.

Residents on edge as wildfires burn

In the U.S., residents in some areas north of Spokane, Washington, were being advised Sunday to leave their homes. Residents in the rural towns of Malden and Rosalia, located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Spokane, saw their evacuation level downgraded Sunday after being urged to leave the previous day after two fires started nearby. The area, though, is on alert.

John Goyke, mayor of Rosalia and the water operator for Malden, said that he saw the trees on the rolling hills burning Sunday morning. He put Malden on a water restriction Saturday night so water could be saved for fire trucks, and Malden’s fire department began trucking water from Rosalia.

“The wind is fairly calm. The fire is not progressing,” Goyke said, “but we’re using social media and Facebook to keep in contact with everyone.”

In 2020, Malden was was by a wildfire, losing its fire station, post office, city hall and library.

Two killed fighting wildfire when helicopter crashes

In Utah, two helicopter pilots when their while they were fighting a wildfire Friday morning in the Fishlake National Forest. Crews were finally able to get to the site Saturday to confirm the deaths.

Officials said Sunday that fire activity had prevented them from quickly reaching the area amid steep, rough terrain.

“When we first got there we could see two different plumes of smoke, one from the crash site, one from an active fire coming towards us,” Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer contributed to this report.

The , or nearly 10 square miles, just outside of Lake City in Hinsdale County, fire officials said in an update Saturday morning.

Containment dropped to 34%, from 42% on Thursday, as the fire grew by more than 4 square miles.

Forty-two structures in the San Juan Springs subdivision north of Lake City are under mandatory evacuation because of the fire. The entire town of Lake City, home to approximately 400 people, is on a pre-evacuation warning.

The includes San Juan Springs, Rocky Springs, Silver Springs and Eagle drives; Elk Road; and Deer Trail. Updated evacuation information is available .

Fire managers doubled the number of people fighting the fire since Thursday, with 104 personnel now on scene and more on the way.

Crews are focusing on protecting homes and structures closest to the fire and are laying hoses, placing water tanks and installing other water-handling equipment, fire officials said Saturday.

Officials are also developing a plan for what to do if the fire jumps Colorado 149 to the east.

Two western divisions of the wildfire don’t have any staff or firefighters working on them because the team’s highest priority is where the fire is moving now, which is toward homes and structures to the south and southeast, spokesperson Bill Jackson said.

There’s not a lot to burn to the west of the fire other than trees and vegetation. Fire managers use the term “values at risk” to describe things a wildfire could damage or destroy: homes, buildings, highways, power lines and other infrastructure, and there are not many of those, other than a few roads, west of the fire.

“If we need to staff them, we will,” Jackson said. “As we need to shift resources around, we have those divisions created already with the ability to transfer resources. It doesn’t mean they’re unstaffed forever.”

A new incident management team will rotate in to take command of the fire on Sunday morning.