As the Aspen Acres fire blazes in Pueblo and Custer counties, burning through over 90,000 acres of land, evacuation orders border the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”

The ADX Florence Supermax prison in Fremont County is considered the most secure prison in the United States and houses some of the world’s most notorious criminals, including Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán; 9/11-involved terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui; and Ted Kaczynski, The Unabomber, until 2021.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the wildfire is about 9.5 miles south of the prison, with immediate evacuation orders bordering its campus just south of Florence.

There is no public record of ADX Florence being fully evacuated. Due to the nearby fire, the Federal Bureau of Prisons says the facility is under a shelter-in-place order.

“At this time, the complex remains safe from any threats of wildfire activity and will continue to shelter in place as a precautionary measure. This posture prioritizes safety while ensuring officials remain prepared to act should conditions change,” Scott Taylor, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau, said to The Gazette in an email Tuesday morning.

While the spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about additional fire mitigation around the facility, a Gazette photographer observed bulldozers clearing a path the width of a four-lane highway on the south and west sides of the complex of prisons closest to Highway 67.

The spokesperson did not respond to The Gazette’s inquiry about where prisoners would go in the case of an evacuation order but stated that the facility is in ongoing communication with the Fremont County Office of Emergency Management.

Fremont County and the town of Florence issued immediate evacuation orders for the following locations in a Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office on Sunday:

• Fremont County Roads 15, 103 and 100

• Newlin Ridge Road

• Los Pinos Subdivision

• Locke Mountain Estates

• The towns of Coal Creek, Rockvale and Williamsburg

More than 11,000 people have been evacuated in Fremont, Pueblo, Custer and Huerfano counties due to the Aspen Acres fire.

The blaze did grow much Monday night, remaining at around 93,000 acres. Firefighters achieved 15% containment Tuesday afternoon, up from 12% Monday.

See The Gazette’s wildfire map here.