Fremont County extends local disaster declaration as Aspen Acres fire nears

The Fremont County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved Resolution No. 15, Series of 2026, extending a local disaster declaration for the Aspen Acres wildland fire to midnight on July 29, 2026.

County Attorney Eric Bellas told the board the declaration and its seven‑day extension are “the first step necessary to enable us access to additional resources beyond those of Fremont County,” including mutual‑aid memorandums with neighboring counties, state assets and federal aircraft. He said the July 29 date was chosen to allow the board to re‑evaluate the need at its next regular meeting.

Tanya Sutton, director of the Fremont County Department of Human Services, described what the declaration allows for residents who meet existing program eligibility. “For those individuals, if they're in need of things like food, shelter, clothing, transportation, personal care items or medical care due to the disaster, we can now access an additional $2,000 for each of those individuals,” Sutton said, adding that staff must complete paperwork and that the county has five days to process requests once need is reported. She provided the DHS direct line, (719) 275‑2318, and said the office is open Monday–Friday, 07:30–17:00.

Commissioners and staff also described local sheltering and donation operations. The Red Cross shelter at Pathfinder Park is open, county volunteers are supporting people and nearly 500 animals were reported sheltered at Pathfinder Park. Officials said donations arrived so quickly they temporarily paused intake and will publish an updated list of needed items and drop‑off locations if intake resumes.

Residents raised immediate concerns during public comment. Pam Hardy, a homeowner in the Los Pinos subdivision, said some neighbors remained at evacuated properties and that she was worried about looting and property damage: “When the houses were evacuated, there was a lot of looting,” she said. Laura Bratt, who said she lives in the evacuation zone on Highway 67, asked whether brief reentry windows could be arranged to retrieve essential medications; she said she has severe asthma and cannot afford replacement medicines. The board asked Bratt to leave contact information so staff and the sheriff’s office can follow up.

Board members warned the public to rely on official channels and the county emergency hotline (719) 276‑7421 for current information and to avoid misinformation circulating on social media. One commissioner explicitly rejected a circulating claim that federal facilities in Florence were evacuating.

A motion to approve Resolution No. 15 was made, seconded and carried by roll call: Commissioners McFaul, Grantham and Bell voted aye. The board said it will continue to meet with incident management teams and partner agencies and will reassess the need to extend the declaration at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

The board adjourned with no further business.