Colorado Wildfires

Late on June 27, 2026, several lightning-caused fires on the Colorado-Utah border — the Snyder Mesa, Jones, Knowles, and Gore fires — merged into the Snyder Fire amid extreme, wind-driven fire behavior, growing to more than 30,000 acres at 0% containment. A burnover that night killed three federal wildland firefighters (Sydney Watson, Nick Hutcherson, and Emily Barker) and injured two others. Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency and activated the Colorado National Guard, and a Complex Incident Management Team assumed command the following day.

Simultaneously, the Aspen Acres Fire exploded across Custer and Pueblo counties in southern Colorado, reaching more than 28,000 acres at 0% containment by June 30. Roughly 155 homes and structures were destroyed — about 55 in Custer County and over 100 in Pueblo County — and the communities of Beulah, Rye, and San Isabel, home to roughly 4,000 people combined, were placed under mandatory evacuation, with more than 2,700 households forced to flee. Sustained winds near 100 mph grounded aerial firefighting support. By early Tuesday, June 30, the fire-tracking service Watch Duty counted nine major fires burning across the state.

The American Red Cross of Southern Colorado opened emergency shelters at Pathfinder Park in Florence, the Colorado State Fairgrounds, and the Pueblo County recreation center, while the Salvation Army deployed mobile feeding units offering meals, first aid, and mental health support to evacuees and firefighters. Colorado has also faced delays in receiving roughly $50 million in federal wildfire preparedness funding even as the fire season intensifies.