In the News

On Tuesday, August 4, US Representative Brittany Pettersen spent the day in Custer County, touring the Aspen Acres Fire burn sites and meeting with elected officials, first responders, and citizens of Wetmore to discuss the Aspen Acres fire, resident concerns and needs, and possibilities for federal aid.

At a community meeting in Wetmore Tuesday evening, Pettersen was joined by Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith, Wet Mountain Fire Protection District (WMFPD) Chief Jeremiah Coleman, Custer County Commissioner Lucas Epp, members of the Sheriff’s posse, and the Wetmore Volunteer Fire Department, to discuss “what happens next” after the fire. Specifically, she asked residents what their greatest needs were regarding federal aid. Fire mitigation and insurance were the top two.

One resident who said that she had had to evacuate her property six times because of fire since moving to the Wetmore area in the 1990s, asked if power companies could not be compelled to bury electric lines in future construction, since downed power lines (a suspected cause of the Aspen Acres fire) routinely cause fires. “I agree it should be a priority,” Pettersen said.

Former Tribune editor Jim Little asked what the estimated cost of the fire would be. Sheriff Smith replied that it could exceed $100 million. Smith also pointed out that, even if FEMA aid became available, that aid was typically split 75/25 between the feds and the local government: “but even $25 million would be beyond our reach as a county.”

Pettersen said that the Marshall Fire of 2021-22 had been 100 percent covered by FEMA, but, she added delicately, “that was under a different administration.” She also said, however, that she would be pushing for 100 percent coverage for this fire.

The state of Colorado is currently covering the costs of the incident teams, but “it’s all on the county right now, if [the fire] wasn’t started by natural causes,” Epp said. (Governor Polis has not yet applied for FEMA funds, possibly because he is waiting to combine an ask for the Aspen Acres Fire with other fires that are currently burning in Colorado).