Pueblo County sheriff lifts some evacuations in Aspen Acres Fire burning in southern Colorado

The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office has lifted some evacuations in the Aspen Acres Fire burning in southern Colorado. The fire has burned 97,083 acres since it began on June 29. 

The wildfire was 28% contained as of Friday morning. More than 263 homes have been destroyed so far.  

Mandatory evacuations have been upgraded to pre-evacuation status for residents in the 3R Road, Signal Mountain, Colorado City, Lake Beckwith to Crow Cutoff and locations east of Hwy 165 to Ray Blvd. Those areas are under pre-evacuation status and should be prepared to leave if conditions change. 

Residents must have a re-entry card from the Disaster Assistance Center to re-enter any designated pre-evacuation zones. The cards can be obtained at the Pueblo Academy of Arts (formerly Pitts Middle School), 29 Lehigh Ave. in Pueblo.

The sheriff also lifted the pre-evacuation status for the area west of I-25, north of Cummings St., east of S. Crow Cutoff/Haynes Rd., and south of Jerry Bass Lane. This area has no evacuation restrictions, and re-entry cards are not required.

The towns of Rye and Beulah remained under mandatory evacuation on Friday, along with other evacuation areas in Custer and Huerfano counties.

The cause of the fire has been determined to be human-caused, but the circumstances surrounding the fire are still being investigated.