BEULAH, Colo. (KOAA) — The Town of Beulah is one of the hardest hit spots of the fire. A lot of people are anxious to find out more about the damage.
“It's heart wrenching. It's a gut punch every time you go through," said Jill Laca with Beulah Fire Department.
The fire is now on the perimeter, which allowed for an escorted tour.
Nature's beauty is now burned and black in the town of Beulah.
The town's 27-member volunteer fire department went to Aspen Acres on the other side of the mountain to help their neighbors when the fire was small. In just hours, it headed their way.
"I do remember looking up the hill above us and you can see it starting to work its way up the hill and then when that wind shifted and it blew down that hill, that was the moment that it was like, here we go, we're in for it," said Tom Laca with the Beulah Fire Department.
"We knew this was worst-case scenario. We knew that if we had a fire blow over 12 Mile, that was going to be worst-case scenario for Beulah," said Jill Laca.
Driving through the town there is destruction, mixed with moments of excitement seeing homes that were saved. Members of the fire department are among the fire victims.
"We've come back, we've all cried together. Many of those that lost their homes up here are on the fire department. A third of our fire department, our firefighters lost their homes," said Tom Laca.
"Most of them knew their homes were being devoured when they were. We went and met with each one of them privately once we had confirmation on that. We cried, we hugged. We said, what do you need? And they said, I need to get back to work," said Jill Laca said.
From 27 firefighters, the number of people on this fire is now around 2,000. In the early hours of the fire, the small but determined department took on what they now refer to as the monster.
"The sound of that fire at that intensity is something I'll never forget. It was almost deafening," said Jill Laca said.
"We had so many propane tanks exploding and things exploding that by the end of the night we didn't even flinch when something went boom. We continued on," said Tom Laca.
"Those winds shifted. I mean, every five minutes it felt like, and sometimes it literally was every 5 minutes, sometimes it was every couple hours," said Jill Laca.
Destroyed homes are not being shown until everyone is notified. Beulah's beloved Horseshoe Lodge is an example of the fire's destructive force. It is gutted and a total loss.
"In no way, shape or form are we out of the weeds. There's still a ton of potential with this incident," said Trevor Johnson with the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team.
As the firefight continues, Beulah locals also look to the future.
"We're in this for a while and it's going to look a lot different around here and life is going to be different, but as many are saying we are Beulah strong and we will all get through this together," said Tom Laca.
Locals are asking when they can get back. The firefight continues, there is no electricity, and the water system for the town is compromised. For now, it is not safe to return.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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A look inside the Aspen Acres Fire zone
A firsthand look inside the Aspen Acres Fire burn scar shows the random nature of the fire's destruction.
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