Disaster assistance center opens for Aspen Acres Fire evacuees
A multi-agency center at Pueblo Academy of the Arts is offering recovery help to Pueblo and Custer county residents affected by the Aspen Acres Fire, while United Way is coordinating donations and longer-term aid.
Pueblo County and partner agencies have opened a Disaster Assistance Center for people affected by the Aspen Acres Fire, marking a shift from evacuation response to recovery.
The center is at Pueblo Academy of the Arts, 29 Lehigh Ave. in Pueblo, and is open to Pueblo County and Custer County residents who were evacuated or otherwise affected by the fire, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office joint information-center notice.
According to the county notice, the center offers victims assistance, United Way of Southern Colorado, food, the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, behavioral health, the Department of Human Services, the Red Cross, agriculture support and private insurance help. Proof of residency is required; acceptable documents include a photo ID with an address, mail or another official document with an address.
United Way of Southern Colorado's emergency page says the center is open July 7-11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed July 12, and open again July 13-14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The page also directs donors to requested-items and wildfire-fund pages and says Southern Colorado Giving Hearts is working on longer-term recovery assistance.
The governor's office has said the fire triggered more than 4,000 evacuations. A United Way recovery update said a lodging-support partnership was helping 10 households totaling 24 people, with two other households making separate arrangements.
Public records reviewed for this story do not show the total number of households displaced or how many people have received help through the assistance center so far.