Colorado wildfire claims second fatality, 360 homes burned

The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs claimed a second fatality. Colorado Springs officials released a new list of burned homes Friday night.

By P. Solomon Banda,?Associated Press / June 29, 2012

Members of Bighorn 209, a crew from the Crow Agency in Montana check for hot spots on the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, June 29, 2012. After declaring a "major disaster" in the state early Friday and promising federal aid, President Barack Obama got a firsthand view of the wildfires.

(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Firefighters searching for bodies in at least 360 homes burned by the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history found a second body Friday at a residence where another person was discovered dead earlier.

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As crews on the front lines made slow but steady progress against the flames, Police Chief Pete Carey said fewer than 10 people altogether were unaccounted for. The remains of one person were found Thursday in what was left standing of one home. He confirmed that the remains of a second person who lived there were found Friday.

Colorado Springs officials posted a list of homes destroyed or damaged by the 26-square-mile Waldo Canyon Fire.

The list was posted online Friday night. Earlier, officials said that the fire damaged or destroyed about 346 homes, which is the most in Colorado history. But a list of burned homes that was given to residents included 360 addresses.

IN PICTURES: Wildfires sweep across the west

More than 600 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in Colorado this year, and at least five people have been killed, including two in the Waldo Canyon Fire.

The 26-square-mile blaze ? one of several wildfires burning out of control across the tinder-dry West ? was reported to be 25 percent contained, and authorities began lifting some of the evacuation orders for the more than 30,000 people who fled their homes a few days ago.

After growing explosively earlier in the week, the fire gained no ground overnight, authorities reported Friday. And the weather was clear and mostly calm, a welcome break from the lightning and high wind that drove the flames.

"The focus for today is to hold what we got," extend the fire lines to contain more of the blaze, and bring in more heavy equipment, said Rich Harvey, incident commander for the fire.

Exhausted firefighters fresh off the front lines described the devastation in some neighborhoods and the challenges of battling such a huge blaze.

"It looks like hell. I would imagine it felt like a nuclear bomb went off. There was fire everywhere. Everything had a square shape to it because it was foundations," said Rich Rexach, who had been working 12-hour days since Tuesday, when flames swept through neighborhoods in this city of more than 400,000 people 60 miles south of Denver.

"Everything you put water on, it was just swallowing it," he said.

President Barack Obama toured the stricken areas Friday after issuing a disaster declaration for Colorado that frees up federal funds. He thanked firefighters and other emergency workers, saying: "The country is grateful for your work. The country's got your back."

As residents waited anxiously to see what was left of their homes, police reported several burglaries in evacuated areas, along with break-ins of cars packed with evacuees' possessions outside hotels.

Carey said Friday a person wearing protective fire gear in an evacuated area was arrested on charges of impersonating a firefighter and influencing a public official.

"We were able to stop him and identify that person as somebody that probably wasn't someone who belonged on that scene," Carey said. He didn't have the person's name.

Earlier this month, a man was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a firefighter at a different blaze in northern Colorado.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/MQKyarl0ZZU/Colorado-wildfire-claims-second-fatality-360-homes-burned

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