The fight against the Aspen Acres fire west of Pueblo continued on multiple fronts Wednesday, as officials called for new evacuations of communities in the path of the uncontained blaze.

Fueled by temperatures nearing 100 degrees and humidity below 10%, the fire grew to nearly 48,000 perimeter acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s map. The communities of Wetmore and Colorado City joined Beulah, Rye and San Isabel in receiving mandatory evacuation orders.

A pre-evacuation notice came for Wetmore around noon, where just a couple of hundred people live. Wetmore Community Church pastor Andy Smart loaded a van to the roof in preparation to leave. The church, built in 1917, sits next to his house. Up the street, sheriff’s deputies were going door to door.

“It’s pretty much swirling straight toward us,” he said, catching his breath on the tailgate.

A mandatory evacuation order followed at around 4 p.m., closing much of Highway 96 from McKenzie Junction.

Far to the southeast and on the other side of the smoke column, Colorado City residents were also evacuating as the fire encroached. As of 8 p.m., communities east of the evacuation line were also under a pre-evacuation notice up to Interstate 25.

As the fire churned in the foothills, the atmosphere on Wednesday was stifling.

“It’s really, really hot,” Troy Davenport summed up.

The retired Pueblo Police chief was getting ready to leave his Colorado City home, which was under a pre-evacuation notice. He said friends who evacuated from near 3R Road were staying with him and may need to move again.

The weather outlook is not promising for the Aspen Acres fire going into day four. The National Weather Service in Pueblo issued a red flag warning for Thursday in Pueblo and Custer counties, along with much of the region, due to possible humidity values as low as 4% with wind gusts up to 40 mph. A fire weather watch is slated to take effect in Custer County and southwestern Pueblo County.

The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s over the next few days, with relative humidity well below 10 percent, said meteorologist Stephen Rodriguez. Southwesterly winds are expected to continue into Friday, but they could lighten into Saturday.

“They don’t look to be quite as strong,” he said. It was the only good news he could offer amid critically dry conditions.

The winds have varied between 40 and 60 mph around the fire the last few days, he said.

At a news conference, officials said that resources have been stretched thin by multiple other large Western wildfires, forcing resources to come from further away to respond to the Aspen Acres fire. From 500 to 750 additional firefighters are expected to arrive in the coming days.

A larger incident command team from Alaska is set to take command of the fire on Thursday.

Incident commander Phil Daniels said he does not anticipate the fire impacting Interstate 25 beyond possible traffic from evacuees. The acreage of the fire is likely to grow with new air reconnaissance, and Daniels anticipated more structure losses. About 180 have been affected so far.

Wednesday did not bring much news for evacuees wondering about the fate of their homes in the path of the fire. Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said officials were not able to assess damage to homes on Wednesday as planned to give residents updates.

“We know this is devastating,” he said.

He said he expected it would be several more days before residents were allowed to return to their properties and assess the damage. Daniels added that firefighters are working around the clock to save properties when possible. He did not provide much detail about the town of Beulah, which evacuated on Monday at the outset of the fire and remains near the epicenter.

“As for the town of Beulah, it has been impacted and it is going to look different for a lot of people,” he said.

As the fire progressed, shelter locations changed. The shelter in Wetmore is no longer open and has moved to Lange Hall in Westcliffe. Pathfinder Park in Florence is operating as a shelter, as is the Pueblo County Recreation Center.

Officials have also opened a Disaster Assistance Center at the Pueblo Academy of Arts, where people can receive help with mental health, food, agricultural support and private insurance.

Large animals can still be taken to the Colorado State Fairgrounds, entering through Gate 7.