Ernest Prax/Aspen Acres Incident Management Team
Audio By Carbonatix
Wildfires continue to ravage parts of Colorado. As of early July 10, four active fires are responsible for nearly 200,000 burned acres, with two of those blazes now among the state’s ten largest ever recorded. However, firefighters have made progress in containment over the last day.
The Aspen Acres fire is now the seventh-largest recorded fire in Colorado history in terms of acres burned, at approximately 97,093 as of Friday morning, according to wildfire tracking app Watch Duty. Although the fire in Custer and Pueblo counties continues to grow, firefighting crews have made some progress over the last two days, reaching 28% containment by early July 10.
On July 9, Pueblo County officials estimated that over 190 homes and four commercial buildings had been lost to the fire, but a private aerial imaging company shared data with the Colorado Sun suggesting that up to 780 structures had been destroyed so far. Bishop’s Castle, a popular an eccentric tourist building destination in Rye, has been spared by the fire so far.
Local evacuations remains in place for the Aspen Acres fire, but some evacuation orders are expected to be lifted this evening.
Across the state, near the Utah border, the Ferris fire had burned just over 63,100 acres by early Friday morning, according to local officials, making it the eighth-largest recorded fire in Colorado history. After struggling to contain the blaze for the better part of a week, firefighter crews increased containment late in the week, reaching 19% by early July 10. There is no count of damaged buildings and structures yet, but the lightly populated are is under evacuation.
The Golden Mountain fire in Ouray County has been burning for nearly two weeks, hitting nearly 33,200 acres by early Friday morning at just 9% containment, according to county officials. Another blaze, the Elk fire, sprang up in nearby Hinsdale County on July 9, as well. According to Watch Duty, the Elk fire had burned around 30 acres by Friday morning, with no local reports of containment shared yet.
Some residents living near the southwest end of the Golden Mountain fire have been allowed back to their homes, but evacuations remain in place for much of Ouray County.
Also in the Colorado mountains is the Willow fire, which had burned about 5,000 acres by Friday morning. After battling the Willow fire for nearly two weeks, fire crews are making progress in containment, reaching 22% as of the most recent local update, according to Watch Duty. Some of Leadville and nearby areas are currently under evacuation orders.
A handful of smaller and contained blazes are still active, as well. The Snyder fire is at 98% containment after burning over 30,000 acres and claiming the lives of three firefighters in the Colorado-Utah border.
