A private aerial imagery company’s analysis suggests the Aspen Acres fire may have destroyed hundreds more structures than local officials have documented so far, identifying 780 structures lost across Pueblo and Custer counties.
The estimate includes all “unique building structures,” such as garages, barns and sheds, while damage assessments by Pueblo and Custer county officials only include homes and commercial buildings.
As of Thursday, Pueblo County officials had confirmed the Aspen Acres fire destroyed 192 homes and four commercial buildings as wind gusts up to 100 mph pushed the flames across critically dry fuels. Since igniting June 29, the fire has scorched more than 96,000 acres and ranks as the seventh largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history.
Pueblo County officials have identified 661 addresses within the fire perimeter and completed assessments on about 67% of those properties, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.
“Their focus right now is on homes,” spokesperson Gayle Perez said. She said she was not sure if damage assessments will include other structures in the future.
In Custer County, damage assessment teams have counted 78 homes that were lost in the fire so far — which equates to 2% of the county’s residences, Sheriff Rich Smith said Wednesday.
The high-resolution aerial images from Vexcel Data were captured Sunday from 6,000 feet above the fire by a fixed-wing aircraft operated by Vexcel, a company that flies over natural disasters, like wildfires and hurricanes, worldwide to analyze structural losses, Kris Wagner, the company’s marketing director said in an interview.
Beulah
Before: A section of Northcreek Road in Beulah on Sept. 1, 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026. The images were captured from a fixed-wing aircraft flying about 6,000 feet in the sky. (All photos courtesy of Vexcel Data)
Before: A section of South Prine Drive in Beulah on Sept. 1, 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.
Click here for more before-and-after aerial photos
The company must comply with air traffic control regulations and obtain permission to fly over active fires. While drones typically fly much lower and are generally prohibited from operating over wildfires, Vexcel’s fixed-wing aircraft equipped with high-resolution cameras can capture clear views of structures within the fire’s footprint from higher elevations.
One pixel in one of Vexcel’s photos equates to 10 centimeters on the ground — roughly the size of a Post-It note, Wagner said.
“We’re well below most sort of emergency operations — all the fire retardants, all the dropping of water — and so we were able to get access to airspace on Sunday,” Wagner said.
An artificial intelligence system compared the latest images with baseline imagery collected in September 2024 to identify the 780 destroyed structures. The results are then reviewed by a team in Germany, Wagner said.
The data is shared with a variety of customers, including insurance companies, utility companies and state governments, including Colorado, Wagner said.
Vexcel, which has a base in Centennial, flies over wildfires when an estimated 100 or more structures have been destroyed, Wagner said. The data does have limitations. Buildings constructed after Sept. 1, 2024 are not included in the analysis. Also, smoke was so dense in some images that the company was unable to assess structure damage in those locations, meaning the estimate may not capture all destroyed buildings, Wagner said.
Before and after images show entire properties burned to ash, highlighting the fire’s devastating impact.
“We haven’t seen a number this big, of properties destroyed, since the LA fires,” Wagner said, referring to the Eaton and Palisades fires in January 2025 that destroyed more than 16,000 structures in southern California communities.
Colorado’s most costly fire, in terms of structures burned, was the Marshall fire in December 2021. More than 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed in parts of Superior, Louisville and Boulder County. Two people were killed.
Bryan Ware, fire chief for Beulah Fire Protection and Ambulance District said Wednesday that 193 primary residences in Beulah were among those lost in Pueblo County. In a letter addressed to the community, posted to Facebook, he urged for the community’s patience in the aftermath of the flames.
“Beulah has endured wildfires and evacuations before, but nothing on this scale. Recovery will look different this time, and it will take patience from all of us,” Ware wrote.
“I have no doubt we will rebuild. We will support one another. We will remain the close-knit community that has always defined Beulah.”
Pueblo County
Before: The section of Applewood Drive off Highway 165, north of Colorado City on Sept. 1, 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.
Rye
Before: A part of a neighborhood off of Old San Isabel Road in Rye on Sept. 1, 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.
Beulah Valley
Before: A wide angle shot of the Beulah Valley captured in 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.
Squirrel Creek Road
Before: A wide angle shot of Squirrel Creek Road in Beulah Valley captured in 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.
Northcreek Road
Before: An aerial view of Northcreek Road in Beulah Valley captured in 2024. After: The same area on July 5, 2026.