A raging wildfire burning southwest of Denver has driven thousands of residents from their homes and leveled more than 160 structures as of Friday, with unpredictable winds spreading the flames across two Colorado counties.
Known as the Aspen Acres fire, the blaze is one of approximately 40 large wildfires currently burning out of control, mostly across the western United States. Months of dry weather and historically low snowfall this past winter in some areas have created dangerous fire conditions.
Firefighters have been pulling water directly from the Pueblo Reservoir in their efforts to battle the blaze, which grew by 17 square miles — roughly 44 square kilometers — overnight. By Friday, the fire had reached nearly 105 square miles (272 square kilometers) in size with zero containment reported.
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office announced mandatory evacuations for all of Colorado City, an unincorporated community of approximately 2,200 people, along with the towns of Beulah, Rye, and San Isabel.
Around 50 National Guard soldiers were deployed Friday to assist with staffing road checkpoints throughout Custer and Pueblo counties. Guard members are also supporting State Park Rangers, who have added boats to keep recreational watercraft away from areas where aircraft are scooping water.
Meanwhile, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, crews have achieved roughly 65% containment of the Snyder Fire along the Colorado-Utah border. That fire drew national attention last weekend after three members of a Helitack team were killed and two others were injured when they were overtaken by flames.
Elsewhere in the region, the Cottonwood fire in southwestern Utah had grown to more than 147 square miles (380 square kilometers) by Friday, while the Babylon fire in the southeastern corner of the state had reached 133 square miles (344 square kilometers).
