By: Savannah Eller and Nick Smith | The Denver Gazette
The wait has no end in sight for evacuated residents of Rye, near where the Aspen Acres fire continues to burn in rough, tinder-dry terrain to the west.
While about 6,400 people have been able to return to communities like Colorado City, Wetmore and Beulah, Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero told attendees at a community meeting Tuesday night that conditions were not yet safe for an additional 3,000 displaced people.
“I wish I had the answer,” he said.
The problem, explained Brad Washa, operations section chief with the Alaska Complex Incident Management Team, is fuel and weather. He said the part of the fire burning near St. Charles Peak is finding extremely receptive fuel in Engelman spruce trees, many of which are standing-dead casualties of beetle kill.
He said the team was concerned about the possibility of thunderstorms pushing the fire east toward Rye, though crews have been working to establish a front line and conduct mitigation.
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