Colorado to receive federal funding to support Aspen Acres Fire recovery

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved Colorado’s request for funding to support businesses harmed by a wildfire that grew to over 100,000 acres in southern Colorado this summer. 

The Aspen Acres Fire, the seventh-largest wildfire in Colorado history, destroyed more than 200 structures across Pueblo and Custer counties. 

Loans will be available for businesses to repair or replace damaged property and meet financial obligations that cannot be met as a result of the fire. Homeowners and renters can also apply for loans to repair or replace property damaged by the fire. Funds can also be used to protect property from future damage that may come up as a result of damage from the fire.

Starting Monday, the Small Business Administration will open Disaster Loan Assistance Centers in Pueblo and Custer counties where residents, property owners, renters, nonprofits and business owners can seek assistance applying for loans.

Loans are also available to support businesses who suffered economic injury in counties surrounding the fire: Crowley, El Paso, Fremont, Huerfano, Las Animas, Lincoln, Otero and Saguache counties.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a major disaster declaration for the fire, opening up more state resources as well as Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to support firefighting efforts. President Donald Trump approved public assistance funding for communities harmed by the fire, but denied individual assistance and hazard mitigation funding. 

State officials announced earlier this week that an investigation had determined the fire was ignited by an aspen tree that fell on a power line during high winds at the end of June. The fire is 82% contained, more than three months after it started.  

Colorado recently saw several requests for federal disaster support denied amid Trump administration’s targeting of Colorado. Trump promised “harsh measures” if the state did not release election denier and former Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from prison. An email revealed in court proceedings showed that an administration official, hours before Trump renewed his public calls for Peters’ release last December, summoned federal agencies to talk about “immediate actions that your department or agency can take with respect to Colorado.”

The administration denied Colorado FEMA recovery funding for the Elk and Lee fires in April. 

Polis commuted Peters’ prison sentence, and the Colorado Department of Corrections released her in June. She has since repeatedly met with the president.

Polis declared a statewide drought emergency in Colorado in June with “severe” or “extreme” drought conditions across the state. 

Climate change has led to increased wildfire risk in Colorado since much of the state has grown hotter and drier in recent decades. The three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurred in 2020.