President Donald Trump has signed off on a major disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires that unlocks millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds for the state.

Colorado’s Office of Emergency Management confirmed Friday that Trump approved the declaration, coming on the heels of an intensive lobbying campaign by federal, state, and local elected officials. The White House’s authorization of the disaster order comes after Trump denied a similar request for the Elk and Lee fires in 2025.

Gov. Jared Polis, who formally requested the declaration in late August, previously said his office had identified $17 million in eligible damages from the two fires, which started within days of each other in late June and have burned a combined 140,000 acres.

An excavator pulls tree trunks, boulders and other flood debris away from the Kienapfel home in Ponderosa Village on Aug. 4. Gov. Jared Polis requested a major disaster declaration from the White House on Sunday for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires and subsequent flooding. Photo by Erin McIntyre | Ouray County Plaindealer

Ouray County Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd told the Plaindealer that the county would qualify only for public assistance from FEMA, which provides funding for infrastructure repair. Pueblo and Custer counties, where the Aspen Acres Fire burned, are eligible for individual assistance – funds that would go directly to private property owners – thanks to the more than 300 homes that the fire destroyed in those areas.

But Boyd added that the declaration will open mechanisms for economic recovery assistance. Local business leaders said as recently as last week that they saw hits to their business of as much as 45%.

This story will be updated in the next print edition of the Plaindealer.

Chart Riggall is a journalist with Report for America, a nonprofit program that helps boost reporting resources in underserved areas. He’s also part of the Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative, a partnership between Report for America, High Country News and local news organizations across the West.

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