Cal Fire Strike Teams Assist Colorado Wildfire

California’s Cal Fire dispatched strike teams from its Sonoma‑Lake‑Napa unit to Colorado to support firefighting on the Aspen Acres Fire, which has scorched roughly 86,000‑91,000 acres in Pueblo and Custer counties. Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the deployment, sending five engines, crews and additional personnel to the incident that began in late June and was still at low containment (0‑12%) as of early July.

The out‑of‑state assistance is part of a mutual‑aid arrangement; crews arrived in Pueblo on the night of July 5 and are expected to remain for up to two weeks. The fire has forced thousands of residents to evacuate, while dry conditions driven by drought and hot weather continue to fuel extreme fire behavior.