TWIN LAKES, Colo. — Small business owners in the Twin Lakes area are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Interlaken Fire is nearly contained.
The wildfire has had a major impact on businesses near town, whose owners said they depend on business during the summer to carry them through the winter.
“Our livelihood is based on June, July and August,” said Bob Mathes, the owner of the Twin Lakes General Store.
Summer is a crucial time of year for the small mountain town of Twin Lakes.
“I mean June, July, particularly August, probably 80% of the business happens of the year,” Mathes said.
The fire impacted the number of people passing through town.
“We are seeing probably 30% down,” Mathes said. “We were concerned we were going to completely lose June.”
The Interlaken Fire has scorched 698 acres since it started burning on June 11. It was 96% contained as of Saturday.
“It was really emotional, honestly,” said Shana Cohen, the owner of the Roadhouse Lodge. “The community came together in force. We definitely felt the impact of the fear of fire. Obviously people that come to visit the area don’t want to be in a lot of smoke or at risk really.”
She had quite a few cancellations since the fire started.
“Yeah, it was mainly because they said they couldn’t do the recreation that they had intended,” Cohen said.
“And also it impacted people from Aspen and surrounding communities who would normally be here driving though. They went around on I-70 so it definitely impacted the town the last week thinking we were closed, when we were really open,” Mathes said.
Twin Lakes wants to welcome everyone with open arms to share their favorite season with visitors.
“Just let everyone know that Twin Lakes is open and excited for business,” Cohen said.
Visitors can now get to the upper, west lake of Twin Lakes.
The lower, east lake and some trails will stay closed for now because of the fire.
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