Colorado woman reunites with her father after losing home to Aspen Acres Fire: "I thought he was gone"

The Aspen Acres Fire has forced at least 11,000 people from their homes. Many of those displaced don't know if they have a home to go back to.

As fire crews battle the ever-growing wildfire, more Colorado communities are packing the essentials and fleeing the flames.

"Never thought I'd see my hometown burning," said Ethan Dunn, who evacuated from his Colorado City home Friday. "I had to pack in a hurry. It's just a bunch of things that have been gathered up over time throughout my life, and then I have other people's stuff in my car, too."

"Little eerie. It's pretty frightening out there," another Colorado City evacuee said. "It's always in the back of your mind, and it's in your peripheral vision wherever you look, it's really all-consuming, so I feel for everyone who has lost their house so far."

Many of the latest evacuees fled to Pueblo, where they joined thousands of others displaced by the fire in recent days.

"Beulah is the paradise that I always wanted to find, and I found it just too late," said Daisy Weeks.

Daisy Weeks had been living on her father's Beulah property while she waited for a double lung transplant.

"About a year ago, I've discovered I was very sick, and so in the last year, I've quit my job, sold my house, I made a plan, bought an RV -- a fifth wheel -- moved it to my father's property, and I really thought, this is where this is my last, this is my final move, this is where I'm going for the rest of my life," said Weeks. "We're at the top of a hill, and I can see I have a picture window, I can see out over this valley with fields and llamas and deer."

Monday morning, the Aspen Acres Fire encroached on that paradise.

"We could look up and the sun was red, we're starting to experience ashes like snow, and we knew that we had to leave," said Weeks.

But Daisy's 82-year-old father refused to leave his beloved home.

"He was just... he was not going to leave," said Weeks. "I actually said the words, 'this is literally the hill you're going to die on? Here? Now?'"

After her pleas to her father were ignored, Daisy finally proceeded down the driveway, where she continued to call her father and loved ones for help.

"Somebody's got to convince him, I haven't left yet, he can still come down to my car. He didn't, and they called me back and said, 'You need to go, you can't breathe, you got to get out of there,'" said Weeks.

Finally, unable to breathe, she left.

"I really thought this is the last time I see my father and I thought he was gone with the house, because I knew the fire was coming," said Weeks.

But hours later, she got a miraculous call from law enforcement.

"Told me 'I have your father, I'm taking him to the shelter,'" said Weeks.

She says her father had been rescued after climbing down a cliff when the fire overtook their land. The pair were reunited at a shelter. Her father was not injured.

"I'm going to cry right now. I couldn't believe it. He's there, and he had his cat," said Weeks. "We got each other, and that's all right. We got each other. Because we have nothing else. We have no other possessions."

A neighbor confirmed the fire had destroyed their beloved home, along with all their belongings, Daisy's fifth wheel RV, her artwork and their chickens.

"It's in the morning when you first wake up when you remember," said Weeks.

Daisy's paradise is lost, and her small community likely won't be the last to fall victim to this fire.

"Whenever somebody had a problem in town, everybody would help and chip in. It's that kind of community," said Weeks. "I've really come to love the people there, and this is just the worst thing I could imagine for them. I'm so sorry."

Daisy and her father are currently staying with friends. She says he plans to rebuild on the land, but she's not sure she will be able to go back.

"I don't know if I can deal with the emotions of being there," said Weeks.