Overview
- The fire, which began June 29, has grown to roughly 96,000 acres and was reported about 14–15% contained in incident updates on July 8–9.
- Local officials have confirmed heavy structural losses with about 192 homes and four commercial buildings destroyed in Pueblo County and roughly 83 homes lost in Custer County.
- A large, multiagency response led by an Alaska incident management team has assigned about 1,600–1,800 personnel who are building dozer and hand lines, conducting firing operations and protecting structures to raise containment.
- Roughly 11,000–12,000 people remain displaced as disaster assistance centers, shelters and volunteer groups scale up aid and reentry is being allowed in limited neighborhoods via guarded checkpoints and reentry cards.
- Incident command lists the blaze as human‑caused and under investigation and officials warn that incoming storms could both help by dropping rain and hinder operations through gusty outflow winds and flash‑flood risk, shaping the next phase of recovery planning.