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The Aspen Acres fire grew another 2,000 acres as firefighters battled more windy conditions Tuesday afternoon while protecting the communities of Wetmore and Greenwood on the northern side of the fire.
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Strong southeast winds pushed the fire toward bulldozer lines crews had finished the day before, fire officials said in a Wednesday update. Firefighters, supported by engines, bulldozers and aircraft, strengthened fire lines along the fire’s edge to keep flames from spreading beyond containment lines.
The fire began to calm down later in the day when winds shifted and light ran began to fall.
The Aspen Acres fire, the largest fire currently burning in Colorado, is burning 96,031 acres and is 15% contained, as of Wednesday morning.
More than 1,670 personnel are assigned to the fire.
Officials said Monday the fire has burned at least 263 homes — 185 in Pueblo County and 78 in Custer County.
Evacuations and pre-evacuations remain in place Wednesday for parts of Custer, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties.
The National Interagency Fire Center map shows wildfires burning in Colorado.
Ferris fire
More mandatory evacuations were issued Tuesday night as the Ferris fire burning near Dolores continued to show extreme fire behavior and moved through the Dolores River Canyon.
The fire was estimated at 57,356 acres — up more than 6,000 acres from Tuesday — and 19% contained, officials said Wednesday morning.
Large air tankers helped build containment along the fire’s northern edge south of Forest Road 504 and a pair of Super Scooper planes dumped water north of the Benchmark Lookout, drawing water from the McPhee Reservoir on Tuesday.
The fire moved north past the Dolores Canyon Overlook and south through the finger canyon near County Road P.
Several ranchers left their cattle grazing on the Glade in San Juan National Forest, where the fire is burning. That’s because firefighters were able to get ahead of the flames and contain them behind a reinforced fire line that’s currently protecting several thousand acres, according to Lorena Williams, public information officer for the San Juan National Forest.
The Glade supports more cattle than any other area in the forest, along with around 23,000 elk and more than 7,000 deer.
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“There is a lot of livelihood that is out here that is threatened and one of our primary objectives is to take good care of it,” said Tom Clemo, incident commander for California Interagency Management Team 7 in a video update. The team assumed command of the fire Tuesday morning.
Gold Mountain fire
Crews made progress containing the Gold Mountain fire burning near Ouray as higher humidity levels, cloud cover and light showers helped limit the fire’s spread. Officials reported 8% containment Wednesday morning, up from 2% the day prior.
Nearly 980 firefighters and personnel are assigned to the fire that has scorched 31,420 acres.
Parts of the fire continue to burn, but firefighters reported minimal growth, according to Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 who reported isolated torching of trees and heavier fuels inside the fire’s perimeter.
Infrared mapping shows there is very little remaining heat along the Highway 550 corridor, where officials said growth is unlikely.
Rainfall totals across the fire ranged from about 0.05 to 0.10 inch, which was not sufficient to provide a wetting rain, fire officials wrote in a Wednesday morning update. Thunderstorms brought gusty, erratic winds up to 20 mph, but they did not create any control issues.
More isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible Wednesday, mainly over higher ridges, with a slight change of lightning and another low change of wetting rain, officials said.
Fire crews will continue to work to keep the fire north of Ouray, east of Colorado 550 and the community of Ridgway and south of Silver Jack Reservoir. Because of a strengthened containment line, some mandatory evacuation orders for people living north of Ouray were dropped to voluntary status.
Willow fire
The Willow fire burning near Leadville is burning about 4,333 acres and is 10% contained, fire officials reported Tuesday.
Steep and inaccessible terrain in the Mount Massive Wilderness is posing a challenge to firefighters trying to extinguish parts of the fire’s perimeter. In these areas, crews are creating fire lines at a safe and accessible distance from the perimeter.
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This is a developing story that will be updated.