KRDO13 speaks with first evacuees to return home in the ‘Aspen Acres’ wildfire in Pueblo County

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A weeklong ordeal has ended for dozens of people forced to evacuate during the "Aspen Acres" fire, now in its ninth day.

Evacuees in parts of Colorado City, along Highway 165 and east of Interstate 25, began returning home Monday night and Tuesday morning.

→ Check KRDO's full coverage of the "Aspen Acres" wildfire here 

A checkpoint manned by the Colorado National Guard and Pueblo County deputies at the intersection of Highway 165 and Cologne Way verified whether incoming drivers had proof of residency before being allowed in.

Among those turned around was a driver who refused to give his name and said that he lives in nearby Rye, which remains under a mandatory evacuation.

"Still not on their list," he said. "I hope they update it because where I live, most of us immediately to the west are out of fire danger."

A block west of the checkpoint is Applewood Drive, where neighbors evacuated for the second time in two weeks after a previous fire damaged or destroyed 11 homes there.

"We evacuated last Tuesday night and came back yesterday afternoon," said David Hill, who lives in Applewood Estates. "We stayed in motels and Airbnbs. Me, my wife, and my mother-in-law."

Another resident, Kameron Jordan, is thankful to still have the home he's lived in for 17 years.

"I have a family of four," he said. "My mom, dad, and sister. We stayed in our van at the Circle K. I'm glad that I had my family. We freaked out. We thought we were going to lose our home."

As we celebrate the evacuees who are coming home, our thoughts and prayers continue for evacuees who still can't return, or even have homes destroyed in the fire.

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