Colorado has had a difficult fire season. The Aspen Acres Fire, burning across Custer, Pueblo, and Huerfano counties since late June, has destroyed more than 800 structures, including over 300 homes, and burned more than 100,000 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires in state history. For communities near the burn scar, the danger isn't over once the flames are out.
State emergency officials are now warning residents about post-fire flooding, a secondary hazard that can be just as destructive as the fire itself. When rain falls on land stripped of vegetation, the ground can't absorb it the way it normally would. Instead, water rushes downhill fast, picking up ash, soil, and debris along the way. What would typically be a routine summer thunderstorm can turn into a flash flood or debris flow in minutes, and the danger extends well beyond the fire's original perimeter. A flash flood in the Aspen Acres burn scar has already been linked to a death this season, a sobering reminder of how real this secondary risk is.
Why this catches people off guard
Most homeowners think about fire risk during fire season and stop thinking about it once a fire is contained. But burn scars can remain vulnerable to flooding for several years, especially in mountainous terrain, where a single storm can send a wall of water and debris toward homes that were never touched by the fire itself.
If you live near or downhill from a recent burn area, this is worth taking seriously, even if your home was never in the fire's path.
Simple steps if you're in a burn scar area
- Know your risk. Local emergency management offices, including Colorado's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, post updated flood risk maps for active burn scars.
- Have a plan for fast-moving water. Unlike river flooding, debris flows can arrive with very little warning. Know your evacuation route in advance rather than figuring it out in the moment.
- Sign up for local alerts. Many counties offer text or app-based emergency notifications specific to flash flood warnings.
- Keep your home documentation current. Whether the threat is fire, flood, or both, having an up to date record of what you own means one less thing to reconstruct from memory if the worst happens.
One less thing to worry about
You can't control the weather or where a fire burns, but you can control how prepared you are to recover. The Homvi app makes it simple to create and maintain a home inventory using your phone. Just take a few photos of each room or space in your home, and Homvi automatically creates a written list of items with estimated values that you can download and share as a PDF at any time.
It won't stop a flood or a fire, but it can take a real task off your plate during recovery, so you have more time and energy for the things that matter most.