Pueblo County officials lifted all mandatory evacuation orders for the Aspen Acres Fire in southern Colorado on Saturday, July 25 [1].
The decision allows thousands of residents to return to their homes following weeks of displacement. The lifting of these orders signals a critical transition from active emergency response to recovery and containment phases in the region.
Fire officials said all evacuation zones have been reduced to pre-evacuation or clear status [2]. The final mandatory evacuation zone, identified as FS5, was lifted at 10 a.m. Saturday [3]. This action followed a series of phased returns, as the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office had previously expected to lift most evacuations in the southern part of the county by Friday [4].
The blaze has been significant in scale, with the fire size topping 99,000 acres [5]. Despite the vast area affected, containment levels reached 61 percent, which provided the necessary safety margin for officials to deem the area safe for reentry [6].
Residents returning to their properties may still encounter hazards. While the mandatory orders are gone, the shift to pre-evacuation status means residents should remain vigilant and prepared to leave if conditions change. The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office said evacuation orders would lift on Saturday for the last remaining zone under mandatory evacuation [7].
Local fire crews continue to monitor the perimeter to prevent new spot fires. The effort to stabilize the 99,000-acre blaze [5] involved extensive coordination between county sheriff deputies and fire officials to ensure that the lift of orders did not jeopardize public safety.
“All evacuation zones have been reduced to pre‑evacuation or clear status.”
The transition to pre-evacuation status indicates that while the immediate threat to life and property has subsided, the fire is not yet fully extinguished. The 61 percent containment rate suggests that a significant portion of the perimeter remains uncontained, meaning the risk persists until 100 percent containment is achieved. For the community, this marks the beginning of a long-term recovery process to assess property damage across the nearly 100,000 acres affected.
