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The Aspen Acres fire grew by another 2,000 acres to 93,634 acres, but forecasters said monsoonal moisture expected to arrive Wednesday could bring the first meaningful chance of rain to the fire area since the blaze ignited more than a week ago.
The fire burning in Pueblo and Custer counties is 15% contained.
The fire’s rapid growth has been fueled by exceptionally dry conditions across southern Colorado. With record-low snowpack and above-average temperatures, “it is no surprise that we are in severe to extreme drought in the communities that were affected by this fire,” Trent Smith, one of two incident meteorologists with the National Weather Service assigned to the fire, said during a briefing Monday evening.
Forecasters are watching for a potential shift beginning Wednesday, when monsoonal moisture could bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to the area.
“It’s going to be hit or miss, but if we can get a good cell to go over the fire, it wouldn’t be unheard of to say a quarter or half an inch of rain falls,” Smith said. The storms could also bring more erratic winds.
The potential relief may be short-lived. After a brief window for rain, hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to return, Smith said.
Like other parts of the state, the region saw a fraction of its average precipitation levels during winter. Rye, near where officials believe the fire started, on average receives about 86 inches of snow annually, but only 39.6 inches have been recorded this year, Smith said.
Officials said Monday the fire has burned at least 263 homes — 185 in Pueblo County and 78 in Custer County.
Fire activity increased Monday near the Lefthand Fork of North Creek, pushing west toward Colorado 165, according to Alaska Complex Incident Management No. 1. Crews plan to engage with fire as it continues to move toward the highway and have started work to protect structures.
On the southern edge, firefighters are trying to slow the fire’s progression and build a new fireline to stop the fire from impacting Rye. The rest of the fireline from Rye to Colorado City is “looking secure,” the team wrote in an update Tuesday morning.
Most of the fire’s eastern edge is contained, but firefighters are focusing on flare-ups in the northeastern corner near Siloam Road and working to protect structures.
Ferris fire
Wind gusts from passing storms also fueled the Ferris fire burning near Dolores on Monday, pushing flames toward containment lines, fire officials said. As of Monday evening, the fire was burning 51,622 acres and was 22% contained.
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Firefighters installed sprinkler systems Monday to protect homes in case flames race past the primary fire lines, fire officials said. Crews are also using controlled burns along the rim of the Dolores Canyon to help build containment lines when conditions allow.
“By burning on our terms and on our timetable they are working to prevent the wildfire from roaring up from the main canyon below and sending embers ahead of the flame front,” federal fire officials wrote on the fire’s Facebook page. “By burning in daylight with lots of resources, we maintain more control over the situation than we would if we waited until nightfall.”
The fire’s southern and eastern edges remained calm as crews patrolled the lines looking for any lingering heat sources that could threaten containment.
Gold Mountain fire
The Gold Mountain fire burning near Ouray is burning about 31,240 acres, officials said Tuesday morning, up from a Monday evening estimate of 29,287 acres.
Tuesday morning, 928 firefighters were briefed on the plans for the dayshift to tackle the fire, which is 2% contained.
Today’s forecast includes another round of afternoon thunderstorms over the fire, which could bring erratic winds up to 20 mph and dry lightning, fire officials said.
Willow fire
Nearly 630 people are working the Willow fire burning near Leadville, which is estimated at 4,150 acres and 5% contained.
The cost of the firefighting operation, which began June 28, is about $6.9 million, Lake County Sheriff Heath Speckman said in a video Monday night.
U.S. Forest Service investigators and Colorado’s fire investigation unit are expected to visit the fire’s point of origin within the next week as they work to determine what sparked the blaze, Speckman said.
No injuries have been reported and no structures have been lost.
On Monday evening, some residents were allowed to return to their homes, but remain under a pre-evacuation warning and should be ready to leave if the fire’s behavior changes, officials said.
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This is a developing story that will be updated.