Aspen Acres Fire continues to burn out of control in southern Colorado

The has grown significantly and forced new evacuations. Southern Colorado authorities said the wildfire, which has destroyed more than 180 structures — including an unknown number of homes — has burned 55,405 acres since it began on Monday. 

The fire is the largest in the region currently and is burning in Pueblo and Custer counties. It's the country's No. 1 firefighting priority, officials said in a news conference on Wednesday. There have been strong, sustained winds in the area, and no meaningful moisture in the forecast, which caused further growth throughout the day on Thursday.

"It breaks my heart every day, just seeing it grow and grow, and there's nothing you can do about it either," said Sady Stinchcomb, of Three Sisters Tavern & Grill in nearby Colorado City. 

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Evacuated areas include Buelah, Rye and San Isabel. Evacuations increased to the north and south of the fire on Wednesday. Southern Fremont County, to the north of the fire, is also now included in the pre-evacuation area.

On Wednesday, many residents like Derick Collins packed their bags as new evacuations were put in place.

"We got the 911 call at about 2:30," said Collins, who came to Colorado City after evacuating. "I packed what I could and got the expensive stuff, but you can't load everything. I mean, it's almost impossible to get everything out."

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Collins had his mind on safety and said he was trying not to think about the damage the wildfire, which so far is 0% contained, could still cause.

"It's sad to see a lot of people, a lot of livelihoods out here, a lot of houses, a lot of businesses, ranches, farms. I mean, it's sad to see nothing you can do about it, except watch it go," he said. 

Three Sisters Tavern & Grill is one of many southern Colorado businesses that are stepping up to support their community right now. On Wednesday, staff were helping evacuees and first responders by providing access to food, water and offering a place to come together.

"It just kind of felt surreal, like (everywhere) you look around, campers are loaded up, everybody's got their ATVs on trailers, so it was just kind of like panic mode," said manager Jolee Ortiz.

Ortiz said there's been great concern in her community since the Aspen Acres Fire started earlier this week.

"We just walked around the parking lot (the first day), because a lot of people came to our parking lot just to watch the fires. So we just walked around with bottled water, kept our bathrooms open all night, that way people can go in and at least have water in facilities, whatever they need," she said.

Collins is now one of the onlookers, hoping the fire doesn't keep advancing toward more residences.

"We get down here and see it coming around the ridge, so that's not good," he said.

The staff at Three Sisters Tavern & Grill says they've received more than $1,000 in donations so far from the community, which they say will go toward the first responders and people who have been affected by the fires.

Investigators said the fire was human-caused but are still working to determine the circumstances surrounding the fire.