US President Barack Obama has toured
neighbourhoods ravaged by a wildfire which drove tens of thousands of people
from their homes in a Colorado city.
The visit comes after Mr Obama issued a disaster declaration, allowing federal funds to be used to combat the blaze.
Searchers have found a second body at a burned-out Colorado Springs home, where two people had been reported missing.
The Waldo Canyon fire has destroyed 346 houses, making it the most destructive in the state's history.
Mr Obama was met in Colorado Springs by Mayor Steve Bach, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, and Senator Mark Udall.
On Friday morning, officials said the fire was 15% contained and that favourable weather conditions helped firefighting crews make good progress overnight.
Incident commander Richard Harvey said there had been no perimeter growth of the fire, and no additional structures were lost or damaged.
But the forest service has warned that it could still take weeks to get the wildfires under control.
Another blaze in northern Colorado - the High Park fire - has killed one person and razed 257 homes, officials have said.
Half of America's firefighting resources, some 1,100 personnel, have been deployed in the state, where nearly 160,000 acres have burned.
Body found
Some mandatory evacuation notices have been lifted, authorities said on Friday, enabling some people to begin returning home.
Continue reading the main story
Local news station KKTV created this map illustrating the fire's rapid growth, and the Colorado Springs Gazette is live-blogging with updates from local police and details of services for residents.
This crowd-sourced, interactive map overlays social media content with terrain and wind conditions to give a fuller picture of the situation on the ground. Colorado's division of Emergency Management is also running a Twitter feed @COEmergency with updates on fires across the state.
And the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created helpcoloradonow.org, a website listing ways to help those affected by the fire.
Wildfire tracking online
Here is a selection of resources to help track the progress of the Waldo Canyon fireLocal news station KKTV created this map illustrating the fire's rapid growth, and the Colorado Springs Gazette is live-blogging with updates from local police and details of services for residents.
This crowd-sourced, interactive map overlays social media content with terrain and wind conditions to give a fuller picture of the situation on the ground. Colorado's division of Emergency Management is also running a Twitter feed @COEmergency with updates on fires across the state.
And the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created helpcoloradonow.org, a website listing ways to help those affected by the fire.
Many people remain in shelters and officials said that
it may take some time to restore gas and electricity services to those who have
been allowed to re-enter their houses.
On Tuesday, about 32,000 people were forced to leave their homes as the Waldo Canyon fire surged across the city limits of Colorado Springs, the state's second biggest city and home to some 420,000 people.
On Friday, Police Chief Pete Carey said a second body had been found in a gutted house in the city, a day after the remains of another person were found at the same address.
Officials are trying to trace fewer than 10 people who may be missing.
The authorities informed those who had lost homes on Thursday. Some had already been able to tell if their houses had survived from aerial photos, which showed rows of buildings reduced to ashes.
"Our minds just started sifting through all the memories of that house that we lost that can't be replaced," resident Rebekah Largent told the Associated Press news agency, after learning from lists distributed by the authorities that her house had been among those destroyed.
Mayor Bach said it would be a difficult time for those affected.
"This community is going to surround them with love and encouragement," he said.
The fire has caused an estimated $3.2m (£2m) of damage.
Wildfires are also sweeping parts of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California.
Aerial views of Colorado
Springs show houses reduced to rubble
No comments:
Post a Comment