Aspen Acres Fire

Custer County, Colorado · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Oct 13, 2026 (4 days ago)

First reported about 4 months ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	102,004 acres Oct 6, 11:00 AM	102,007 acres Oct 17, 2:00 PM +3 acres was 102,004 acres · Oct 6, 11:00 AM	+3 acres in 11 days
Containment	82% Oct 13, 4:00 PM	90% Oct 17, 2:00 PM +8 percent was 82% · Oct 13, 4:00 PM	+8 percent in 4 days
Crew size	6 Oct 10, 6:00 PM	10 Oct 17, 2:00 PM +4 was 6 · Oct 10, 6:00 PM	+4 in 7 days
Money spent	$103.3M Aug 27, 6:00 PM	$103.6M Oct 17, 2:00 PM +$300,000 was $103.3M · Aug 27, 6:00 PM	+$300,000 in about 2 months

Aspen Acres Fire summary

The Aspen Acres Fire is a wildfire near Custer County, Colorado. It has burned about 102,007 acres (about 77,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 90% of its edge; the other 10% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 4 months ago. About 10 people are on it, run by a Type 5 IC.

Size: 102,007 acres
Containment: 90%
Discovered: June 29, 2026 (first reported about 4 months ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Saturday, October 17th at 2:00 p.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what a specific fire will do.

	Day	Night
This Afternoon	62°F · Sunny Wind 5 mph NE · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	40°F · Mostly Clear Wind 0 to 10 mph SSW · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry
Sunday	63°F · Mostly Sunny Wind 5 to 10 mph NNW · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry	40°F · Mostly Cloudy Wind 0 to 5 mph S · 3% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Monday	56°F · Mostly Sunny Wind 0 to 5 mph SE · 9% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Saturday, October 17th at 2:01 p.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

29° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

Trees with brush underneath (TU5)

Heavy forest litter with shrubs or small trees underneath, in a dry climate. Fire moves at a moderate pace, with medium-height flames.

55% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

9,053 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 4:06 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 10 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 5 IC. The government rates it a Type 4 Incident. About $104 million has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.

Where to get live updates

We show the daily official picture. For minute-by-minute updates, evacuation orders, and maps, these do it best:

→ Watch Duty: real-time fire reporting and evacuations.
→ InciWeb: the government's official fire information site.

Nearby fires to Aspen Acres Fire

No other active fires are near this one right now. It's on its own.

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