[0:00] It's wrong, I think.
>> Hopefully that's our official
[0:03] » This This one back here is closer, but
and there's a lot of feedback there.
[0:07] » Yeah, there is.
>> It's the volume of these speakers.
[0:12] » My computer actually says it's still
8:58.
[0:15] » Yeah, mine's
>> We have a lot of official times.
[0:17] » Yeah, that one went to 9.
>> Hey, Kevin, can you turn down all the
[0:21] speakers up here?
>> Yeah, I'm trying to master the sound.
[0:24] » Thank you.
[0:27] » [clears throat and cough]
[0:31] » Probably whenever you're ready, Kevin.
>> I'm ready.
[0:37] You guys flipped the switch.
>> On air?
[0:39] » I flipped the wrong switch. My bad.
[0:43] » Hey, it wouldn't have happened.
>> Good morning. I would like to call to
[0:48] order this meeting of your Fremont
County Board of County Commissioners.
[0:51] This is a special meeting today with a
single item of new business. I'm going
[0:55] to ask you all to please rise for the
Pledge of Allegiance at this time.
[1:00] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[1:05] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:11] justice for all.
>> [clears throat]
[1:16] » Roll call, please.
>> Commissioner Bell.
[1:18] » Present.
>> Commissioner McFall.
[1:20] » Present.
>> Commissioner Grantham. Here.
[1:22] » County Attorney Bellis.
>> Present.
[1:23] » County Administrator Croci.
>> Present.
[1:26] » Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We turn next to
the approval of today's agenda. As I
[1:29] mentioned, this is a single item
of business for today. This is the
[1:34] consideration of a resolution extending
the local disaster declaration for the
[1:38] Aspen Acres Wildland Fire.
[1:45] » Somebody going to make a motion?
>> Let's have a motion to approve today's
[1:48] agenda.
>> Madam Chair, I'll move to approve
[1:50] today's agenda.
>> Second.
[1:53] » All right, it has been moved and
seconded to approve today's agenda.
[1:56] » Second reading. Oh, it's Are we just
>> Let's do roll call.
[1:59] » Roll call, please.
>> Commissioner Granthan.
[2:03] » I just about said here.
I.
[2:05] » Commissioner McFall.
>> I.
[2:07] » Commissioner Bell.
>> I.
[2:08] » Motion carries.
>> We have no consent agenda today. We have
[2:11] no need for a motion there, gentlemen.
>> [laughter]
[2:15] » We're going to jump right into new
business. We all know what we're here
[2:17] for today. This is all about the Aspen
Acres Wildland fire that is currently
[2:21] burning at almost 100,000 acres due
south and somewhat to the east of us
[2:26] here in Fremont County. Fortunately,
this fire has not yet actually reached
[2:30] Fremont County, but it has gotten very
close. It's too close for comfort. Um
[2:35] because of that, the evacuations were
ordered Sunday evening by the incident
[2:40] management team. We have the special
team here from Alaska as I'm sure you're
[2:43] all aware.
We have no timeline yet for the return
[2:48] of all of those evacuees into the coal
towns,
[2:51] uh but we are meeting multiple times
daily with um
[2:56] folks from incident management, from
emergency management, from all of our
[3:00] partner agencies, and keeping us
up-to-date as we possibly can with
[3:05] what's going on for a fire that actually
is not burning in Fremont County. So, we
[3:09] felt that we haven't had
a lot of news to try to manage here in
[3:14] Fremont County simply because this fire
does not belong to us. It is burning in
[3:18] Custer County. It is burning in Pueblo
County. There's nothing we can add to
[3:22] the conversation other than now our own
evacuations
[3:27] that would add to the conversation
because the information does not belong
[3:30] to us. We simply can
um
[3:34] spout the same things that everyone else
is already talking about. We can repeat
[3:37] things, but we're not a big fan of um
repeating over and over and over again
[3:42] the same information that you can get
elsewhere. So, first thing I think this
[3:45] morning, we're going to turn to our
Fremont County Attorney, Eric Bellis,
[3:50] for an explanation of this resolution
number 15, which is extending the
[3:55] disaster declaration regarding the Aspen
Acres wildland fire to midnight on July
[4:00] 29th of 2026. So, Eric, if you would
like to explain what we're doing with
[4:04] this action today, that'd be great.
>> Certainly. These resolutions that we do
[4:08] with respect to local disasters and the
local disaster declaration is simply the
[4:12] first step necessary to enable us access
to additional resources beyond those of
[4:20] Fremont County. When we declare a local
disaster, whether it be by declaration
[4:25] or in this case resolution extending
that 7-day declaration, um it does
[4:30] several things. It activates local
memorandums of understanding to make
[4:35] resources available from neighboring
counties and neighboring partners in the
[4:40] area. It also alerts the state and it
makes additional resources available
[4:45] from the state. It also, in this case,
makes resources available from the
[4:50] federal government. So, we have a number
of those resources that you all can see
[4:55] anytime you pass by the Fremont County
Airport and you see those large aircraft
[5:01] departing from the airport, the Black
Hawk helicap- helicopters, the Chinook
[5:06] helicopter, those are federal assets.
The red and white helicopters that you
[5:10] all are familiar with and have seen
before and in fact are stationed at our
[5:14] airport, those are state resources. Uh
this dis- disaster declaration makes all
[5:19] of those available and it just
formalizes what we need to do to access
[5:23] those resources that obviously allow us
to respond to disasters that exceed our
[5:29] local capacity to respond.
The reason that we chose the date that
[5:33] we chose, July 29th, uh to extend this,
that is the day after our next regularly
[5:40] scheduled Board of County Commissioners
meeting. Um
[5:44] these wildfires tend to burn for a
significant amount of time and whether
[5:48] this fire does or does not cross into
Fremont County, I suspect we will be
[5:54] reevaluating the need to further extend
this
[5:57] at our next regularly scheduled Board of
County Commissioners meeting.
[6:02] » All right, thank you, sir. Any questions
for Eric at this time?
[6:07] I would like to just note that our
Governor, Jared Polis, also has declared
[6:11] the Aspen Acres fire a state disaster as
well. And speaking of the ability to
[6:17] access resources, we asked our
Department of Human Services Director,
[6:21] Tanya Sutton, to come in this morning
and explain about some resources that
[6:26] are currently available to our citizens
simply because of this disaster
[6:30] declaration. Good morning, Tanya.
>> Good morning. Thank you so much for
[6:33] having me.
>> Thanks for coming.
[6:35] » Um so, I thought
that this was a great idea by
[6:40] Commissioner Bell to really explain what
the Department of Human Services has
[6:45] been able to do because of this
declaration. So, thank you again.
[6:48] I will jump into some specifics, but
just want to really quickly start with
[6:53] just a huge thank you to this board
because without issuing this,
[6:58] we wouldn't be able to do some of the
things I'm going to speak about as well
[7:01] as County Attorney Bellis because
not only did he help to solidify all of
[7:06] this and get all of this filed in the
right ways, but I've seen him in
[7:10] different ways this past week and a half
that I never did before, such as driving
[7:14] the
Red Cross truck to us so that we could
[7:17] help get the shelter set up. So, huge
thanks to everyone in this room as well
[7:21] as so many other county staff, my staff
specifically,
[7:25] not only showing up with I think right
now we have 11 staff just at DHS that
[7:29] have been evacuated, showing up to do
what they are asked to do every single
[7:33] day, taking care of other people, but
also volunteering in their time off. So,
[7:38] I am very honored to be part of this
community. Just want to start with that.
[7:43] So, with this declaration being a um
county declaration, we can now access a
[7:50] couple of different pots of funds we
were not able to previously. One of them
[7:54] is for our adult financial population.
So, those populations are specific to
[8:00] the aid and needy disabled, our adult
population, um old age pension
[8:04] population. These funds can be accessed
by those who have previously been
[8:10] approved for these grants. So, all of
the eligibility would have had to be
[8:15] completed and approved prior to this
disaster declaration.
[8:19] Um but now that that has happened for
those individuals, if they're in need of
[8:22] things like food, shelter, clothing,
transportation, personal care items, or
[8:27] medical care due to the disaster,
um we can now access an additional
[8:32] $2,000 for each of those individuals.
There is a process because that's what
[8:38] we do um in the government. We have
processes. We have to make sure that we
[8:42] have all of the uh correct paperwork
completed and our staff is ready and
[8:46] able to help with that. Um the state has
already clicked all the right buttons in
[8:50] our system to be able to process these
things, but we do still have to have
[8:54] paperwork and things like that. We are
not going to ask individuals to bring us
[8:58] any verification of anything. If they
have an address and we know that they're
[9:01] going to be in that evacuation area,
we're going to do what we need to do to
[9:04] access these funds.
The second pot is for our Colorado Works
[9:08] in um families. So, Colorado Works is
what other people can consider TANF
[9:13] funds.
Um to be able to be eligible for that um
[9:17] assistance, you have to have a family
with at least one child or a child on
[9:22] the way, a pregnancy, um and a family
income below $75,000 a year.
[9:27] Uh a little bit different than our adult
financial, we can still access
[9:32] eligibility um through this process, but
But it has to be those very specific
[9:36] needs that happened because of the
disaster.
[9:40] These um additional funds are not an
entitlement. So, if somebody is
[9:44] receiving aid to needy and disabled and
um now they have been evacuated, that
[9:49] does not automatically mean they get an
extra amount of money. What it does mean
[9:53] is our staff is going to really talk to
them about what needs do you have? How
[9:56] can we help overcome those? Um and then
potentially access these funds.
[10:01] One thing that I was surprised by, I
appreciated um Attorney Bellis really
[10:06] indicating it opens up additional um
resources. This does open up additional
[10:10] resources, however, it does not give us
additional money. So, all of these funds
[10:14] still come up out of our local budget.
Um that was something I was not aware of
[10:18] before we filed this with the state.
That does not mean that we will not help
[10:22] our citizens. We'll do whatever we need
to do to help those individuals in need.
[10:26] What it does mean is we may be asking
questions that others may think we
[10:30] shouldn't. We're going to ask, "Where
else can we find these, you know,
[10:33] resources? What else can we do to meet
these needs?" Because we still have to
[10:36] be responsible stewards of you know,
taxpayer dollars. Um so, I also just
[10:42] wanted to mention that this will be
through August of 2026 at this point. We
[10:49] can file um potentially I I will be
filing this extension with the state to
[10:53] see if that gives us more time. But, our
staff only have 5 days to process these.
[10:57] So, once we hear of a need, we have 5
days to get it in the system um and for
[11:01] them to do all of the verification they
have to do. Um our technicians have a
[11:06] lot of work um but they work very hard
and they will do whatever is needed. So,
[11:12] if anybody in the community um fits in
these specific areas and needs
[11:17] assistance, please just give us a call.
Our direct line is 719-275-2318
[11:25] and our office is open from 7:30 until
5:00 every day, Monday through Friday.
[11:29] So, we're here to help um we're here to
help just find resources, tap into
[11:33] funds, whatever we need to do. And if
anybody knows of anything else that is
[11:37] missing, please let us know and we'll
research that as well.
[11:41] » Tanya, thank you so much. That's a lot
of information. Um, it's very helpful
[11:44] information. And please take back to
your staff our our very deep thanks and
[11:49] gratitude for all the hard work that
they're putting in. We have so many
[11:52] county people right now. This might be a
good segue real quickly. We have so many
[11:56] county people who are digging really
deep right now. Um, we have folks who
[12:00] have come in to volunteer their time
while they're on paid vacation, um, to
[12:04] be staying home, but instead they're
coming here and volunteering. We have
[12:07] people here in our buildings who have
been evacuated and are still coming.
[12:11] They're here, they're working every
single day, um, rather than staying in a
[12:14] hotel, in a B&B, at a friend's house,
wherever they happen to be located right
[12:19] now. They're still coming to work and
they're doing the job and, um, the
[12:22] volunteerism and the efforts that we've
seen not only from county employees, but
[12:27] from others throughout Fremont County.
So, I would just like to address real
[12:31] quickly, um, we put out a call early on
for donations. And that call was
[12:37] answered so fast and so hard by so many
people, we had to stop accepting
[12:42] donations because we no longer have
place a place to, um, actually store
[12:46] those until we can get them to the
appropriate recipients. And so, keep an
[12:51] eye out though, because we may be
opening that back up again. And if we
[12:54] do, we will put out the list of items
that are needed, as well as where, um,
[12:58] that you can take them in the locations
and different things.
[13:01] » Great. So, okay.
>> Yes, thank you for that. We were able to
[13:04] access some of those donations
[clears throat] through emergency
[13:06] management yesterday to assist some of
our families. So, um, we will continue
[13:11] to support through that as well. So,
thank you again. Appreciate you having
[13:13] me.
>> Thank you.
[13:15] I also would like to mention, um, the
Red Cross shelter that's currently open
[13:19] at Pathfinder Park. We have so many
others who are down there volunteering,
[13:23] donating their time, taking care of
animals, taking care of people, taking
[13:26] care of meals, doing all of those
different things. Um again, the
[13:30] community has just come together in a
truly incredible way here. So, we do
[13:34] have someone from the public who showed
up this morning and would like to speak.
[13:38] Pam Hardy, would you please come forward
and tell us what's on your mind. If you
[13:41] want to turn on that microphone, push
that button right there. Right in the
[13:45] front middle. Yes, you do. [laughter]
We can't hear you if you don't turn that
[13:49] on.
>> There you go.
[13:51] » All right. Thank you.
Thank you, commissioners, for allowing
[13:55] me to stand. Um I'm a homeowner in the
Los Pinos subdivision south of Florence.
[14:02] And I'm here to represent some of the
homeowners in Los Pinos.
[14:08] My husband and I attended the meeting in
Pueblo
[14:13] Monday night that was put on by the
Alaskan team for the firefighters. And
[14:18] then afterwards, we got to talk to some
of the subject matter experts. So, we
[14:22] totally
we understand the evacuation. You know,
[14:26] we respect it.
You know, I'm I I'm not here to
[14:31] about you know, talk to be concerned
about that. But, our concern is
[14:36] the evacuation.
Um we had a mandatory evacuation Sunday
[14:42] night.
And
[14:44] yesterday
um we have a homeowners association and
[14:48] we email [clears throat] each other. Uh
there's a few people that have decided
[14:53] to stay. They did not evacuate. And
we've had a few vehicles come through,
[14:59] sit in front of each of the houses,
taking I'm we're assuming taking
[15:04] pictures, looking for cameras,
uh
[15:09] pickup truck. There was a pickup truck
at different hours. Um I know in the
[15:14] Beulah Rye area, they've had a lot of
looting when the houses were evacuated,
[15:20] there was a lot of looting. So, our
concern is about that. We also have a
[15:25] neighbor
um
[15:27] uh
that has caused a lot of unrest in our
[15:31] community.
And
[15:34] um our
we've got some neighbors there that's
[15:37] been there 40 years. My husband and I,
we've been there 35 years. And, you
[15:42] know,
the ones that's been there a long time,
[15:44] we've got a real close knit. But, we've
got one neighbor that's been causing a
[15:49] lot of problems. We've had to call the
sheriff's office many times to come out.
[15:53] One week, I think the sheriff's office
had to come out like seven times in in
[15:57] less than a week. And nothing's being
done. She is still there.
[16:02] And we already know that she has done
some destruction. So, here we're
[16:08] evacuated, but yet she's in there. Our
concern is we've got the the fire we're
[16:14] concerned about.
I totally understand how the fire could
[16:19] get to us. I have no questions about
that. Our concern is the fire. Our
[16:23] concern is the neighbor that's there
that could be causing damage.
[16:27] You know, free reign. And then, lastly,
our concern is possible looting.
[16:34] And um I know a couple neighbors have
been able to get in even as of
[16:39] yesterday.
When we leave here, my husband and I,
[16:42] when we leave here, we are hoping to get
in
[16:46] because I got cameras that I want to set
up. If not, I will be contacting the
[16:50] sheriff. So, those are my concerns. So,
it's not just the fire, it's
[16:56] you know,
our lifelong possessions.
[17:00] » Okay, thank you so much for being here
and speaking this morning.
[17:02] » Thank you.
>> Is there anyone else who would like to
[17:04] rise and speak?
>> [clears throat]
[17:08] » Okay. I The The first thing I would say
um to you, Pam, is
[17:14] what an incredibly stressful time and
how heartbreaking this is for everyone
[17:18] who has who has been involved. Um I have
not been evacuated and I can only
[17:24] imagine the stress that you're under
because as I just said a moment ago, we
[17:28] are dealing with a lot of those folks
here in the county buildings as well.
[17:32] And so we are able to see I mean just
the stress on faces and the lack of
[17:36] sleep um and the things that are going
through your minds. And so
[17:41] I think it's incredible that you know
your neighbors so well. Not everyone has
[17:45] that ability and that opportunity to
actually be part of a neighborhood
[17:49] instead of just having people that you
live next door to. So I think it's a
[17:53] wonderful thing that you're looking out
for each other, that you're all helping
[17:56] take care of each other. I would
encourage you to stay in touch with the
[18:00] sheriff's office um when when and if you
see any of those things continuing to
[18:05] happen. So thank you for being here.
Gentlemen.
[18:10] » I would just add on to that Madam Chair
that
[18:13] the I know the sheriff's office is
obviously very concerned about that and
[18:16] we're seeing the same information coming
from Pueblo and Custer about the
[18:20] possibility of that happening.
Um I'm not sure if there's any
[18:25] confirmed cases on that yet,
but uh it's always a a
[18:30] a worry and a concern in these
situations, right? And you've expressed
[18:34] that.
Um but
[18:36] I would
not [clears throat] to speak for the
[18:39] sheriff's office or the sheriff's
department, but uh or the sheriff
[18:43] himself, but I know that they are
doing their best to make sure they're on
[18:47] top of that and uh they certainly don't
want that happening. Um I know they're
[18:53] stretched thin right now
um
[18:55] managing, but uh I staying as Chair
said, please stay in touch with them as
[19:01] much as you can and
any of those other folks that are out
[19:04] there uh still that you know that uh
feel free to take some pictures.
[19:10] » Absolutely.
>> [laughter]
[19:12] » Yes.
>> I thank [clears throat] you for your
[19:15] coming in today, though.
>> Would you like to speak? Come on up to
[19:19] the microphone and if you would identify
yourself, please.
[19:22] And then afterward, [clears throat]
if you would fill out one of these slips
[19:26] from over there and turn it into the
clerk.
[19:28] It's It's on already. Yes.
>> My name is Laura Bratz. I live
[19:32] on Highway 67 in the evacuation zone. I
was away on vacation July 1st to the
[19:40] 7th. The house was
sort of evacuated by my daughter, but
[19:45] could not find medications.
I need medication. Clearly. Is there any
[19:50] way to
short I wasn't allowed to grab my own
[19:55] stuff. Is there any way that I can
access
[19:59] » [cough]
>> I have severe asthma and I'd like to
[20:02] know is there a short-term is there
windows where I can we can be given
[20:07] couple hours a day to go back to the
house
[20:11] » [cough]
>> and get medication cuz I was not home
[20:14] when this happened.
And my 27-year-old daughter did not have
[20:19] a clue where all this medication was.
She grabbed her own medications and the
[20:24] cat, three cats, and
our roommate.
[20:28] Plus we both lost we all lost our jobs
right before this happened in March. So
[20:32] we have no jobs, but all my medications
are and I can't afford to go buy it all.
[20:37] So I'm asking is there short-term
emergency access to my house?
[20:42] There There's other people out on the
land who are refu-
[20:46] who are refusing We We live on a
multitude of land, so it's divided up to
[20:50] three sections. Some of the one one of
the sections is staying occupied,
[20:55] but they can't bring it to me cuz they
won't let them back in. So I don't know
[20:58] what to do, but I need medication.
And I'm asking is there any chance for a
[21:02] couple of hours just to go get some
stuff?
[21:05] » Okay. [laughter]
Have you been in touch with the
[21:08] sheriff's department?
>> They said no.
[21:10] » Yeah, I don't think that's right. I
think for medication and stuff they're
[21:13] supposed to ask for
>> them I might need this. I mean, my eyes
[21:16] are watering all the time. I can't
breathe. I'm going to be in the hospital
[21:18] soon. People who don't have underlying
medical conditions are having a hard
[21:23] time with the smoke.
>> I know.
[21:24] » So, people who do have those those
issues already, it it has to be so much
[21:29] worse. So, I'm just I'm I'm terribly
sorry for what you're going through
[21:32] right now. We the three of us do not
have the power to say yes. We will grant
[21:37] this. We do have the power to have that
conversation with others. And so, we
[21:42] will have that conversation. We will see
what we can do for for you and for folks
[21:47] like you who have a desperate need to
get back in to retrieve something from
[21:51] your property.
>> fill out the little paper that Brandon's
[21:54] got right there,
leave your phone number and stuff so
[21:56] that they can contact you.
>> live in Fremont County, but I've
[21:59] definitely been evacuated.
>> Yeah, leave your information there so we
[22:01] can pass it on to the sheriff so they
can get in touch with you.
[22:04] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[22:04] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[22:06] » All right.
>> [cough and clears throat]
[22:08] » Okay.
Dwayne?
[22:10] » Well, just a couple of things that I
want to say. You You mentioned about
[22:13] evacuated staff. We have some in this
building, some from Custer County and
[22:16] Fremont County. Um
Pathfinder Park is Yeah, one of them is
[22:21] sitting next to me. Um
Pathfinder Park is full. We have near
[22:26] 500 animals in there that have been
evacuated from Custer and Fremont
[22:28] County. We've got a great bunch of uh
volunteers helping with those animals.
[22:35] And then we've also had an overwhelming
um
[22:40] display, whatever you want to call it,
of animal food. We have so much animal
[22:43] We have more chicken feed out there than
I think they'll ever feed in in a long
[22:47] time, but that's a great thing.
Um so, I appreciate everyone's help with
[22:51] that. And animals I understand She
mentioned cats a minute ago. I
[22:55] understand cats are hard to find a place
to go to stay with cuz people won't let
[22:58] cats stay cuz they want it to cost you a
fortune for cats for a deposit or
[23:02] whatever.
So that makes it tough too, but they do
[23:04] have some out there in cages
and um crates and um dogs as well, but
[23:09] there's every kind of animal out there I
think you can think of.
[23:11] » Somebody said, "What is Noah's Ark?"
>> Noah's Ark.
[23:13] » Yeah.
That's kind of true, but it's it's our
[23:17] our um extension agent and the
volunteers and our and Dwyane, the guy
[23:22] that runs Pathfinder Park for us and his
helper Bree, they've done an excellent
[23:26] job of setting up in under the pavilion
where those animals have room, but
[23:30] there's still room for some more cuz
they come in there's a bunch came in
[23:32] even yesterday. So um I want to reach
out to send this out to those guys,
[23:37] thank them, but also um we've talked
about a lot of information here and
[23:41] there's a lot of it's overwhelming.
There is an
[23:44] um
emergency management hotline in Fremont
[23:47] County and the phone number is
719-276-7421.
[23:52] That number can be called for
information um as to what's happening,
[23:57] the most current information they can
give you um
[24:00] they won't know when evacuations will be
lifted. I can repeat that number too if
[24:04] you need that. It's 719-276-7421.
[24:10] They won't have the time of when the
evacuations are going to be lifted or
[24:13] anything like that, but they can tell
you the current um status of everything.
[24:17] Um and that again is some of our staff
and some other volunteer people that
[24:21] work for the OEM
the emergency manager's office.
[24:25] Um so we appreciate all of those
volunteers.
[24:28] Thank you, Madam Chair.
>> All right, thank you.
[24:30] I think at this time we're probably
prepared to move forward unless anyone
[24:34] has further comments.
>> [clears throat]
[24:36] » Always.
>> Okay.
[24:38] » [laughter]
>> Commissioner Granthan.
[24:39] » have a question.
>> Uh come up to the microphone, please.
[24:45] And we need you to identify yourself.
>> I'm Mary Ann Komar. I live at literally
[24:49] at the end of CR 15.
>> Okay. Hi, Mary.
[24:52] » Next door to Florence Mountain Park.
You've met my partner. He done He like
[24:56] talked to you about the Bears.
>> [laughter]
[24:59] » And um
I'm concerned about um
[25:04] the what they were talking about online,
DAC.
[25:08] It's something about passes for people
to get back in, and
[25:12] is Fremont going to do that?
>> Not at this point. At this point, those
[25:16] are only available for Custer and Pueblo
County because of the
[25:20] fire that's went through and it's been
cleared. It's given them an opportunity
[25:23] to go back in whenever it's safe.
We don't have that in Fremont County
[25:27] because we actually don't have any fire
in Fremont County. We're just waiting
[25:30] for them to either lift the evacuations,
and God forbid fire ever get here, but
[25:34] » We're not waiting for fire, are we?
>> Yeah, we don't Yeah, we don't want fire
[25:37] to cause that. We want fire to go away,
but at this point there is not that for
[25:41] Fremont County because there's no
It's not over, I guess is the way to say
[25:45] it.
>> Okay.
[25:47] » And that's why they're available for
Pueblo and Custer because some of those
[25:49] areas have been
deemed safe. Yeah, the fire's already
[25:53] went through. Unfortunately.
>> All right.
[25:56] » So, at this [clears throat] time there's
not for Fremont County, and hopefully
[25:58] there won't be cuz that means we had
fire. But eventually it'll just be
[26:01] lifted. I mean, that's what we're
hoping.
[26:03] » Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. All
right. Thank you.
[26:06] » Thank you.
>> Yes, sir.
[26:08] » Um just to again pile on. It's what I
do.
[26:12] Um [clears throat]
I appreciate all the volunteers and
[26:15] everybody that's been helping out at
Pathfinder and our Red Cross and um
[26:21] just [clears throat] want to extend our
thanks to all of those folks. Um yeah.
[26:26] The the Noah's Ark of Fremont County. Um
it is quite the sight out there. Um
[26:33] but also very orderly and structured.
>> [laughter]
[26:35] » And very uh very very nice out there,
and we're we're fortunate we're lucky
[26:40] that we have uh such facility to to help
our uh community. Uh I just wanted to
[26:47] um
repeat what the chair said earlier about
[26:51] uh just our thanks for our community.
How impressive it is watching
[26:56] folks come together. I was talking to
our
[26:59] Mr. Kroll yesterday about we got so much
an inundation of of supplies and
[27:07] donations [clears throat] that came in.
He felt bad for having to tell people
[27:11] that we can't take anymore.
I said, "Well, this is a good problem to
[27:15] have in Fremont County. Not every
community has this [clears throat]
[27:18] that kind of a problem." And so, it's
pretty awesome. I said, "I bet if for
[27:24] some reason our supplies run low, I bet
we could turn that spigot back on pretty
[27:28] good good and quick."
>> Very quickly as well.
[27:31] » And our community would respond. And so,
we're good right now, I think, on
[27:36] supplies,
but pay attention.
[27:40] You never know when that might need to
be turned back on.
[27:43] And be ready to help some more. The only
other thing I would add, Madam Chair,
[27:47] just because we're given the opportunity
here this morning is
[27:51] for anybody that's paying attention,
anybody that's watching this whether
[27:55] live or recording, please beware of
false
[28:00] information.
Um
[28:03] » [clears throat]
>> the
[28:05] social media is fantastic for getting
information out quickly
[28:11] to a lot of people.
It's also
[28:17] a good way to spread false information
quickly.
[28:22] And so, if somebody is saying something
and it doesn't
[28:27] ring true, look to the actual sources
that have the information that we need.
[28:33] The The Aspen Acres Fire 2026
if you're on Facebook, the hotline that
[28:41] we have, these are the sources.
>> The sheriff's Facebook as well.
[28:45] » The sheriff's Facebook as well, who who
is actually reposting some of those
[28:50] other sites that are credible. So,
please pay attention to those credible
[28:55] sites like that and not any other
self-proclaimed
[29:00] um
[29:03] veritable
sources
[29:06] uh trustworthy sources.
Um the sheriff's office um all three of
[29:10] the sheriff's offices, Pueblo, Custer,
Fremont.
[29:14] Um
just an example
[29:17] and I hesitate to even bring this up cuz
I don't want to be adding to anything
[29:21] false, but I want to be very clear.
The federal facilities in Florence are
[29:26] not evacuating. They are not going to be
turning out prisoners onto the streets
[29:31] or anything ridiculous like that. Um
uh just utterly ridiculous things being
[29:38] said on Facebook that are on their very
face false.
[29:42] But, it's maddening for us that um
our
[29:47] emergency manager, our sheriff's office,
us, or anybody else is having to field
[29:53] questions about something that's utterly
ridiculous because somebody decided that
[29:57] they were going to
take their most uh
[30:01] uh weirdest thoughts in the back of
their head and post them on Facebook
[30:05] that that we're going to be turning out
El Chapo onto the street.
[30:09] That's simply not going to happen. Never
going to happen. They don't need to
[30:13] evacuate. They're not going to evacuate.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
[30:18] » [laughter]
>> I would add to that um Commissioner
[30:20] Grantham, what that actually does is it
takes
[30:23] these people's time away from what they
should be doing. When they have to
[30:28] defend against all of those untruths
and the accusations that are out there,
[30:34] every minute spent defending against
that is another minute that they are not
[30:38] able to spend doing the job that they
need to be out there doing. So,
[30:42] um good point. Thank you so much.
>> So.
[30:44] » What about Nextdoor?
>> Um
[30:47] » Same?
>> Uh
[30:49] » All social media, same.
>> Yeah, all social media. The question is
[30:52] what about Nextdoor as opposed to
Facebook? So, it really is all social
[30:55] media. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I am
prepared for a motion if we have our
[31:00] second.
>> Madam Chair.
[31:01] » Yes, please.
>> Uh
[31:03] the I just want to note that this
resolution is available on our website
[31:06] if anybody wants to read it in its
entirety. It does explain um what the
[31:10] local disaster declaration does in this
extension. With that, Madam Chair, I
[31:14] move to approve resolution number 15
series of 2026 extending the disaster
[31:18] declaration regarding Aspen Acres
wildfire
[31:21] to midnight on July 29th, 2026.
>> Second.
[31:25] » It has been moved and seconded to
approve resolution number 15 series of
[31:29] 2026 extending the disaster declaration
regarding Aspen Acres wildland fire to
[31:35] midnight on July 29th of 2026.
Further discussion?
[31:41] All right, let's do roll call.
>> Commissioner McFall.
[31:43] » Aye.
Sorry, I got to do it again. My mic was
[31:46] off. Commissioner McFall.
>> Aye.
[31:48] » Commissioner Gantt.
>> Aye.
[31:49] » Commissioner Bell.
>> Aye.
[31:51] » Commissioner Kairns.
>> All right, we are have no further
[31:54] business to come before us.
Uh thank you all so much for being here.
[31:58] Thanks for listening and paying
attention online. We are adjourned.
[32:02] » I was just going to say