Rye residents anxious to return home after ‘Aspen Acres’ fire as evacuation orders set to be downgraded

RYE, Colo. (KRDO) -- People impacted by the "Aspen Acres" fire may soon have a chance to go home. The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office announced it expects evacuation orders to be lifted for the town of Rye starting Thursday, July 23.

After nearly a month, the evacuated residents of Rye are finally on the cusp of returning. Among them is Ashleigh Okins. She and her husband have seven kids. Most of their children have been staying with family out of state. Ashleigh and her husband have been staying with their adult daughter in Pueblo.

"It feels like the night before Christmas," Okins said. "Home isn't just four walls and a roof. Home is your community. It's your, you know, your neighbors, your friends in your neighborhood. It's your school. It's your church. It's it's more than just where you lay your head at night."

David Rankin and his wife have been bouncing from place to place for the last 24 days, with their two dogs and cat.

"We've been as far away as 20 miles west of Walsenburg, Colorado Springs, Cañon City for about five or six days," Rankin said. "I've actually lived a college lifestyle. I've lived out of a laundry hamper for the last 24 days."

Given all the previous chaos from the "Aspen Acres" fire, and the unpredictability, Rankin is keeping his emotions in check.

"We don't want to set ourselves up to be let down," Rankin said. "The worst thing we could do is load the vehicles right now and be like 8:00 tomorrow morning, man, we're driving to the house and then wake up in the morning and find out something have changed."

But if all goes well, and the evacuation order is lifed, there is no place like home.

"When your whole life is, you know, just out of reach -- 45 minutes away -- it does it absolutely feels like Christmas," Okins said.

The downgraded orders are expected to start at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. Officials also say they are expecting to lift pre-evacuation orders for Colorado City.

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