The Aspen Acres fire has passed the 100,000-acre mark, even as crews battling the massive blaze southwest of Pueblo continued to make strides in containing it.
The 100,224-acre fire is now estimated at 61% contained, up from 48% on Friday morning, fire officials said Saturday. More than 1,600 people were assigned to the fire.
The continuing progress comes as Huerfano County eased an evacuation order in the Libre area Saturday, placing residents there on pre-evacuation status. Most of the evacuations are in Pueblo and Custer counties, where thousands of people have been driven from their homes.
New Hotshot crews were deployed to the fire’s southwestern boundary Saturday, joining an effort to chase down spot fires and reinforce defensive lines to prevent flames from spreading into the community of Rye.
“This is our top priority, is holding that line, and starting to get that fire secured there,” Ben Wagner, an operations section chief for Northern Rockies Incident Management Team No. 6, said in a video briefing. “We understand folks have been out of their homes for a long time, and we’re really trying hard — very, very hard — to lock this down.”
Heavy equipment, including bulldozers, were on the ground while fixed wing aircraft and helicopters were mounting aerial attacks, Wagner said. “Today we’re bringing in some additional scooping aircraft to help reinforce that line.”
During a Friday evening briefing, Manny Mendoza, another operations section chief, sounded an optimistic note about progress on the nearly three-week-old fire, saying crews had managed to build on work of a previous management team as the weather turned in their favor.
“We’ve had rain,” Mendoza said. “They put in some good control lines to keep the fire from spreading, and we’re taking advantage of that.”
Still, the sheer size of the blaze was testing efforts to ensure the fire doesn’t spread beyond established lines, including along the fire’s eastern boundary, which accounts for much of the fire’s growing containment.
“There still may be heat near the control line, but they’re looking at that, and they’re patrolling it, and they’re mopping it up as well as they can,” Mendoza said. “That’s a lot of real estate they have to look at every day.”
Weather conditions Saturday were expected to fuel more active burning, especially in areas with steep grades and dry vegetation.
“The mix of dry fuels, warm weather, terrain and shifting winds means the fire still has growth potential,” a written update said.
The National Interagency Fire Center map shows wildfires burning in Colorado.
Gold Mountain fire
The Gold Mountain fire, which ignited June 27 northeast of Ouray, was estimated at 37,809 acres and 13% contained Saturday morning.
The fire is burning with greatest intensity at high elevations, where dead and downed trees are helping to fuel the flames, officials said in a written update. But open meadows and rocky ridges are limiting the risk of spot fires that could spread the flames across the high ridgelines and mountaintops.
Containment lines were holding, and smoke visible in the fire area was largely from the interior, as flames ignited in dry logs and snags.
Crews are being consolidated along the western edge of the fire, focused on establishing new containment lines to prevent the fire’s spread.
“Although aspects of the Gold Mountain Fire will take weeks to resolve, crews are taking advantage of this period of favorable weather to strengthen defensible lines and prepare for potential increase in fire activity,” officials said in a written statement.
Ferris fire
Moisture blanketed the Ferris fire on Friday, allowing for leaps of progress, including nine miles of new hose lay on the fire’s northwestern flank, according to Nick Cleary, operations section chief with the California Interagency Incident Management Team No. 7.
“We’re looking at about an inch of rain, all over the fire,” Cleary said in a video update Saturday morning. “Last night and yesterday, nature’s hot shots came, and they really took care of all our mop-up and seek-and-destroy missions.”
Crews were taking a “tactical pause” on Saturday, remaining in their camps while fire managers reevaluated their most pressing needs in the wake of favorable weather. Some firefighters could be reassigned to other firefighters, Cleary said.
The Ferris fire was estimated at 64,881 acres and 71% contained as of Saturday morning.
Willow fire
The Willow fire burning near Leadville saw marginal growth and is estimated at 6,967 and 37% contained.
While light rain fell Friday, it had minimal effect on flames, which continued to burn in the fire’s interior on the northern and eastern portions of its footprint, fire officials said in an update Saturday morning.
On the southwestern side, the fire continued to creep into higher elevations, where thinner fuels were likely to inhibit growth.
“Hotshot crews will be accessing the Mt. Massive Wilderness to engage the fire directly,” officials said in the written update. “They will use tactics designed to confine the fire while keeping their impact on the land as minimal as possible.”
Fishhook fire
The Fishhook fire, burning north of Rabbit Ears Pass in Routt County, remained at 347 acres and 0% contained Saturday.
Despite the lack of containment, fire officials celebrated a day of solid gains Friday.
“Crews made great progress yesterday constructing hand lines around the fire’s edge and also using aircraft to drop water and reduce heat along the perimeter,” fire officials said in a written update Saturday.
Crews on Saturday were working to connect hand lines on the southern and western sides of the fire to prevent it from spreading. Similar efforts were underway on the northern and eastern sides of the blaze, where heavy timber presented an additional challenge.
Firefighters were also positioned around the fire to attack any new starts from spot fires.
The forecast called for lighter winds Saturday with possibility of thunderstorms that could bring moisture, but also the threat of lightning.
Elk fire
The Elk fire, burning in the Uncompahgre Wilderness north of Lake City, was estimated at 2,274 acres on Saturday morning. No containment estimate was available.
“The big thing from yesterday is we finally got some decent precipitation on the fire — somewhere between a quarter inch and a half-inch of rain,” said Scott Stanton, Northwest 8 Complex Incident Management Team.
The moisture helped to inhibit growth, but didn’t eliminate the threat from extremely dry fuels, he said.
Overnight Saturday, crews enjoyed “very calm, wet” conditions in which fire activity was limited to a single tree that caught fire and was extinguished, Stanton said.
Crews on Saturday planned to build new containment lines along the fire’s northern boundary, and also prepare structures should the fire grow.
Firefighters planned to shore up defenses along the fire’s eastern perimeter and take steps to prevent the fire from spreading toward Lake City.
This is a developing story that will be updated.