Rye residents still under evacuation, uncertain about future
RYE, Colo. (KRDO) - In the past seven days, people living near the "Aspen Acres" fire burning in Custer, Fremont, and Pueblo counties have seen their evacuation orders lifted or downgraded, allowing them to go back to their homes.
The one major exception is the people living in Rye, who remain under an evacuation order as of July 13.
"We honestly went into this thinking we'll be out of the house three or four days," said David Rankin.
He and his wife were told to evacuate back on June 29, and since then have bounced around, staying at six different places in the last 15 days.
"We ended up going from that place in Pueblo to an Airbnb in Canyon City to a second Airbnb in Canyon City three days later, back to Pueblo, up to Colorado Springs the last two days. And now we're here in Walsenburg," Rankin said, later admitting that if the evacuation order continues into next week, then they'll have to find another place to stay.
Rankin says they can't just hole up in a hotel because they have their two dogs and a cat in tow. All the moving around is adding stress to the feeling of uncertainty surrounding when they can go home to Rye.
"I think we've both shut off our emotions to it in some ways. We have had it, it's kind of like grieving something that's still alive, you know," Rankin said.
Their first real update on when they could go back to Rye came just on Monday. The town's fire chief, Ross Gallegos, said in an open letter to the community that the fire still poses an immediate threat to life, property, and public safety.
"My wife and I, probably on the third day of the fire, we actually had to have the hard conversation. The 'What if, what if, what if our house burns down? What does that look like?'" Rankin recalled.
Rankin tells KRDO13 that he believes his home is still standing. The fire chief says the blaze is two miles out from Rye, but the Rankin family doesn't know when they'll be able to see home again with their own eyes.
"Based on what we've heard, it could probably be at least another two weeks before we'll even know how this plays out. maybe longer," Rankin said.
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