​

July: Living through the worst wildfire in the nation

The View From Here:

I spent eleven days this month evacuated from the #1 priority wildfire in the US...

Aspen Acres Fire 2026

Nearly nine hundred structures have been lost so far, along with four businesses. Over three hundred were homes. It feels ironic that my second Tillacos Creek Ranch novel, Her Colorado Firefighter, which just released this past April, spotlights a hero who is both a metro and wildland firefighter, and who ends up fighting a wildfire in the book. Or is it ironic? Wildfires are very much on my mind. Colorado has been in drought more often than not for the past twenty plus years with a series of terrible fires, and every summer the wildfire map for the entire western half of the US looks more dire. This summer, fires are even plaguing Florida and Europe -- Paris is currently battling a fire of "exceptional scale."

So what was it like living through one?

It’s easy to be complacent about fires that start in an area that feels removed from you. Many of us are used to that. The truth is, though, that we are all at the mercy of more and more extreme weather. For the Aspen Acres Fire, the conditions were a “perfect storm.” On the day the fire started, we had humidity levels in the single digits, temperatures in the high nineties, and winds gusting above fifty miles an hour. These “red flag” conditions persisted for an uncommon five days in a row. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to an alert that there was a two-acre fire about a dozen miles from our house. We’re very fortunate for a small town and have a twenty-four-hour paid department that was quickly on it. But as I said, weather conditions…By evening, it was a 21,000-acre monster, and I was heading out of town with the dogs while my husband worked on the trailer to get the horses moved.

Within the first day, the fire had grown out of control for the initial hundred and fifty or so firefighters from local areas that showed up. A Colorado wildfire incident team took over within the first twenty-four hours and began requesting federal disaster status and additional resources. Firefighting aircraft couldn’t fly due to the continuing high winds. By the end of the second day, it had become the number one priority fire in the nation and was declared a federal disaster. A national wildfire incident team was assigned. By the end of day three, the fire covered over 50,000 acres. The red flag days continued one after another.

If you’re going to have a critical incident fire in your area, it’s better to be the worst than the second-worst.

The fire started on Monday, and by Wednesday the Alaska Critical Incident Management Team #1 began showing up. They officially took over Thursday morning, day four. These guys handle the “worst of the worst.” They have clout and this fire had priority status -- what they asked for, they got. By the end of their first week here, we had nearly 2000 personnel working the fire, plus air tankers and helicopters. Social media pages and twice-daily updates were instituted to keep the public informed. Regular alerts came out through Watch Duty. (If you don’t have this fire disaster app, get it!) In the video updates, and especially the town hall meetings, the public was given a glimpse into what it takes to run an operation like this. When my husband and I came back home the following week -- SO VERY THANKFUL TO HAVE A HOME TO RETURN TO! -- the fire had scorched within a mile of the house.

I worked as a paramedic in San Diego fire stations decades ago and know some basics about firefighting, but I’ve now developed a keen interest in what goes into fighting something of this size. The team of professionals assigned here included a crew of night and day incident commanders, two incident meteorologists—providing important minute-by-minute data on wind, temperatures, and forecasts—and a fire-behavior specialist, along with communication staff, pilots, support staff, and of course, the army of firefighters. Additionally, the power company representative addressed the public as well as the sheriffs from each of the four counties involved. (A new thing I learned is that the sheriff of our county is also the fire warden.)

These critical incident teams work fourteen-day assignments (twelve to sixteen hours a day and sounds like no days off) and then leave, turning things over to the next team if needed. The fire is now over 100,000 acres (approx 150 sq miles), and more than 60% contained as of this writing (though still plenty of active fire). We transitioned last week from the Alaska team to the Northern Rockies Wildfire Incident team.

It's not over till it's over

We were one of the lucky families who's house is, so far, untouched by this fire. No burns, no smoke damage. We had the fridge and freezer to clean out after more than a week of no power, and so far we've had National Guard roadblocks, re-entry cards, curfews, and poor air-quality days (like the rest of the nation... sorry everyone for our smoke adding to the poor air quality in much of the nation!).

When the fire is finally fully controlled and everyone that still has a home is allowed to return to it, we'll still have challenges. Both creeks near the house are completely dry. One of them is an important water source for the town. The lake/reservoir is as low as I've ever seen it. Too low and the water department's water filters won't work properly. Then there's rebuilding to be done. Despite all this, the community has been amazing. Food, clothing, and other donations are pouring in, volunteers are everywhere, even among people who were also affected. Two guys showed up from TX and OK and have been providing free BBQ lunches daily. United Way and a disaster center have appeared, and CART (the Colorado Animal Response Team) has been amazing, working around the clock taking in people and their livestock at the county fairgrounds.

If anyone is looking for ways they can help, some suggestions would be: gas or monetary gift cards to the all-volunteer CART team, grocery cards to the local churches for lower income folks to restock their refrigerators and freezers, and United Way is accepting cleaning supplies of all kinds, trash bags, and dog food (though not clothing at this time as they got plenty early on).

It's been a difficult couple of months in more ways than one:

In May, I had a wreck with my bad ankle and ended up tearing ligaments and cracking a couple of bones, so I hobbled around during evacuation in a walking boot. To top it off, my husband's position at work was eliminated the same day the fire started and he's being laid off at the end of this month. In short, if reading Her Colorado Firefighter (or book one, Her Colorado Cowboy, or pre-ordering book three, Their Colorado Christmas) is anywhere on your radar, I'd appreciate your support now more than ever!

I hope that none of you ever find yourselves in a wildfire situation, but in case you do, here's some firsthand advice:

· Always have a “go bag” with a list of everything you need, including things like insurance papers. I got the dogs and their things right away, then some clothes and electronics, but for the rest, a list would have helped me prioritize. Take photos of your possessions and valuables ahead of time.

· If you have livestock, know who your livestock evacuation team is, know where your animals can go, and have a plan to move them. In case of immediate danger and no way to evacuate them, tag livestock (if there’s time) and cut the fencing so they can run, or at the least open gates, get them out, and close gates behind them so they don’t return and get trapped.

· Pack more than you think you need. We left thinking we’d be back in a couple of days. For me, it was more than ten. For some people here, it's been three weeks and counting.

· Download Watch Duty on your smartphone

· Find community pages (like FB) to get links to the official information pages and updates or call local law enforcement to find out where reliable information is being disseminated.

Until next time, happy reading!