Joshua MacLeod and his family had three hours to evacuate from their home in Rye as high winds drove the explosive growth of the Aspen Acres fire. 

They fit what they could in two cars, leaving behind most of the belongings accumulated over 17 years of marriage, he said.

Firefighters cut fences for their two horses in hopes they could escape on their own. 

The days since have been a relentless string of logistical planning for them and their neighbors, MacLeod said. 

He’s spent 14 hours a day working to pick up the pieces of his family’s life, from the short-term tasks, such as finding needed household items at the United Way’s donation and distribution center, to the long-term plans for rebuilding his own home and his mother-in-law’s house. Both were completely destroyed in the fire.

As a former Marine who specialized in logistics, he said he is well prepared, but it’s still a challenge. 

He expects many of his neighbors, some of the 3,061 people still evacuated, are feeling that same mental exhaustion. 

“I haven’t heard of anybody that has been able to be idle,” said MacLeod, who is well connected among the community as the marketing director for the Greenhorn Valley Chamber of Commerce.

While he learned early that the family’s homes burned, many neighbors have just gotten the news in recent days, he said.  

The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office’s latest count has tallied 28 destroyed homes in Rye, two in Colorado City, three in unincorporated Pueblo County and 208 in Beulah. 

While they have been planning next steps as a family, MacLeod’s wife, Katherine MacLeod, has also been working to reopen the Colorado City library, where she is the branch manager, and to organize additional relief for fellow residents who will be close to their homes.

She hopes to distribute water and items such as dry goods and clothing for those recovering from the library, he said. 

Large-scale fundraising

Amid all the needs, fundraising is well underway by well-known charities and individual families. 

The United Way of Southern Colorado has raised more than $1 million and is aiming to raise $10 million, said President and CEO Shanna Farmer. The funds have not been distributed yet and will be set aside to help those who are uninsured, underinsured or facing recovery needs that other funding sources cannot cover, she said. A long-term recovery task force will establish funding priorities and eligibility guidelines, she said. 

“Is it intended to serve as a fund of last resort,” she said.

The nonprofit is also implementing a robust system to track every dollar distributed, she said. 

The Red Cross did not have a tally on donations for fire victims but noted the nonprofit is responding to twice as many major disasters as a decade ago, and 90 cents of every dollar raised goes to shelter, food, relief items, health and emotional support, said spokesman John Seward. 

Fundraisers for families

Many individual fundraising efforts are also ongoing to help those who lost their homes. 

On GoFundMe, donors for Aspen Acre fire recovery efforts have raised $500,000, said Jeff Platt, a spokesman for the platform. 

GoFundMe.org, a nonprofit separate from GoFundMe.com, has set up a 2026 Wildfire Relief Fund with $50,000 seed money. Online donors brought the fund to about $79,000 on Friday afternoon. 

So far the fund has sent out $1,050 flat grants to 46 fundraisers for those impacted, Platt said. 

Individual churches have also started working to meet the needs. 

At the Grand View Church in Beulah, about 60% of the congregation lost their homes and the building itself suffered some smoke damage, said Pastor Isaac Cowger, who lives in the parsonage. His home was also damaged and it will be a few weeks before he can return. 

So far, the church has given away about $10,000 to community members in the form of gift cards to help meet immediate needs, he said. It has raised around $30,000 so far. 

The church is also working closely with the Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief, a group that will help residents sift through ashes for any remaining goods and help clean up home sites, he said.  

In the long term, Cowger said he is particularly worried for residents who could not obtain homeowners insurance and then lost their homes, he said.

Table Mountain Church, in Rye, can’t hold services yet because it’s within the evacuation zone, but it’s working toward a fundraising goal of $15,000, said Pastor Shane Bennett. 

“We want to be in a position to give financial gifts to people who need food and housing,” he said. 

Bennett returned home last week to Colorado City, where most evacuated residents lost food in the fridge and freezer but are not facing total destruction. 

“That comes with a real deep sense of gratitude,” he said. 

As the smoke from the fire filled the sky over Pueblo, at Christ Church Pueblo West, lemonade stands and an espresso bar sales raised money for 100, $100 gift cards for those who were displaced, said Pastor Bryan Kelsen.

 

As families return home, he expects members of the church’s youth group will give out gift cards to other kids impacted by the fire to replace a toy, he said, as they did during the Waldo Canyon fire.  

“It’s a much bigger blessing for the kids who are doing the giving,” he said. 

Gloise Hunter, the sister of a displaced resident in Rye, is selling customized Aspen Fire tumblers to help raise money for her family and their neighbors on Facebook. 

It’s given the crafter an outlet, as she has watched the disaster unfold from her home in Lincoln, Nebraska, hoping that her sister’s home survives.  

“It’s kind of painful just to sit here,” Hunter said. 

Planning for life after the fire

While Rye residents are still evacuated, MacLeod has been anticipating the days and months ahead. 

He doesn’t have much hope for sifting through the ashes and finding even the remnants of his daughter’s coin collection because the fire burned so hot. 

But he already knows that he plans to rebuild on the same property where his wife’s grandfather built the two homes that were lost.

He hopes to do at least some of the work himself, particularly on needed outbuildings like barns and chicken coops.

As for the MacLeod’s horses, they fled the fire and returned to the natural springs on the family’s property. They led other animals back there as well, where the Community Animal Response Team found them, he said.

To give directly to the MacLeod family visit SpotFund.com