Water officials in Beulah have sent a plea for federal help after the Aspen Acres fire devastated the southern Colorado community and damaged its water supply, putting its recovery in peril. … [T]he fire scorched hillsides in all directions, including all of those watersheds. The water district treats the water, uses pumps to move it uphill to three sites with underground distribution tanks, then lets it flow down to residents’ houses. But the fire also blazed around the district’s treatment plant and over all three of its underground distribution tank sites.  When it destroyed homes, it left open taps, and by Day 2 of the fire, the district’s system was dry. The residents who still have homes haven’t had running water for more than a month.

Other water and wildfire news:

• Fox Weather: Colorado biologists race to save rare trout as wildfires threaten their mountain home