CO: ASPEN ACRES FIRE EVACUEES LOSE HOME
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COLORADO (KCNC) — As the Aspen Acres Fire burns on, thousands of Coloradans are still displaced, many left in limbo waiting to hear if their homes were lost or to return to survey the damage.
“It’s just amazing how you can just lose everything that quick,” evacuee Jeffrey Rasmussen said.
Jeffrey Rasmussen and his wife, Audrey, spent years pouring themselves into their forever home in the mountains above Beulah.
“I got my dream place up there in the Wet Mountains, Beulah, beautiful mountain town, 32-acre property up above Beulah. It was a fixer-upper. I’m kind of a handyman, so it was right up my alley,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said. “We’ve been working on remodeling it ever since we got up there, and I built a workshop up there, and we even had a guest house that we fixed up.”
But in minutes, smoke in the distance turned to an emergency evacuation order.
“Your brain is going, ‘What do I pack? What do I need? What do I want?'” Audrey Rasmussen said.
The couple grabbed their pets and left in a camper as the Aspen Acres Fire approached.
“You could see the fire coming down the hill,” Jeffrey said. “It was coming right at our house.”
That couple fled and eventually ended up at a Lake Pueblo campsite. They said the state opened free spaces for evacuees. Each night, their view of the fire burning on the hills across the lake is a reminder of its ongoing devastation. But by day, the firefighting planes fetching water from the lake to fight the fire gave them hope.
“When they first came up, it was almost a relief that they were coming,” Audrey Rasmussen said.
A week later, the call they were dreading came.
A friend’s photo confirmed their shop and guest house were gone, along with cars, family photos, a lifetime of memories and their beloved home.
“It shows our shop, just a pile of metal, and our guest house; you can’t even see it, it’s just ash,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said. “We put a lot of work in these places, and then something like this takes it all.”
“You picture it, but when you actually see it, you kind of melt right with your house. Okay, that’s it. Gone,” Audrey Rasmussen said.
The couple had done extensive fire mitigation work on their land and said extensive mitigation work had also been done around Beulah.
“We’re doing fire mitigation. We had cleared out trees around the driveway by the house, and we were working on the north side of the house when this came. The siding I used on my shop was supposed to be fireproof,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said. “But this storm, it wouldn’t have stopped it anyway. They had 100-mile-an-hour winds, and the heat was just so tremendous that it was just wiping everything out. It was just skipping across the treetops and just taking everything out.”
The couple still wants to live in the forest or country despite this experience but are not sure if they’re prepared for the challenge of rebuilding on the same land.
As they wait to be allowed to return and survey the damage, the couple lives in their RV.
“This is home. Lowe’s gave us a cleanup box. It’s got supplies for cleanup,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said while showing a CBS Colorado crew around their RV. “We got dog food at the resource center, food and all kinds of snacks.”
They’re grateful for the kindness of strangers, like the volunteers at the resource center, the restaurants offering evacuees free meals and the firefighters risking their lives.
“It’s great to see all the volunteers that are helping, and the biggest thing to me is the firefighters. They got a tough job,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said. “Then the resource center, it’s got water, and bathroom supplies, and hygiene stuff, and just all kinds of stuff that you need right away. We even got a blanket there, and a couple towels, because you walk out with no towels and no washcloths or nothing.”
Jeff’s brother has started an online fundraiser to “Support Jeff and Audrey After Aspen Acres Fire.”
The couple now faces insurance woes and the tough decision of whether to rebuild as they prepare to start again.
“It’s really hard, really hard to take it all in. Kind of been numb for a while now,” Jeffrey Rasmussen said. “Just trying to stay strong and get through this. We’ll recover.”
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