Many Rye residents are only left to hope that fire misses their homes
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Tuesday night, many are still forced to evacuate from the Aspen Acres Fire, not able to go home. They can only hope the fire spares their home, including the Okins family.
"Very, tight-knit, friendly. People would do anything for one another, each other," is how Ashleigh Okins describes the Rye community they've lived in the past few years.
Ashleigh and Paul Okins moved to Rye with eight of their nine children to fill in the then-upcoming pastor vacancy at the Greenhorn Valley Baptist Church.
After the Aspen Acres fire ignited and exploded this week, the Rye community has been scattered, forced to leave their home for a shelter, hotel, or a family member's home.
Law enforcement confirmed on Tuesday that at least 100 structures have been lost in the fire in Pueblo County but could not clarify how many are homes. An additional 55 homes have been confirmed lost in Custer County.
"We stepped outside and saw all of the smoke. So that was very concerning to us. Actually, I took a video of it," Ashleigh said, "never thinking that we would have to be evacuated just a few short hours later."
Ashleigh gathered up the kids and left as quickly as they could after getting the emergency alert and hearing the sheriff's office going door to door. Paul said he was in Pueblo when the evacuation order came down.
"I just had the clothes on my back, and she's brought the kids. As long as we had the kids, I was fine with everything else," Paul said.
One of their oldest children, Cainan, said he was at a friend's house in Rye when he saw the billow of smoke.
"Is it going to hit Rye, and will it burn down my house?" Cainan worried when he saw the smoke on Monday.
Ashleigh and Paul tell KRDO13 they're trying to keep spirits high amid the uncertainty of what is happening behind the fire line.
"We're just trying to keep our kids, kind of, keep their minds at ease and at peace. So we don't really try to talk about it a whole lot. We just-our trust is in God that he'll take care of it, and he provides for us. And it's all stuff. At the end of the day, it's just all stuff," Ashleigh said.
Despite that, some thoughts of the worst-case scenario have crept in.
"If the wind changed and our church, you know," Paul paused.
"Was affected," Ashleigh added.
"If it was affected, I've thought, you know, we'll praise God in the parking lot," Paul said.
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