Wildfires displace 10,000 in 'major disaster' in US
About 10,000 people remained displaced by the largest wildfire in Colorado history today, a day after President Barack Obama visited the scene and called it a “major disaster”.
Two burned bodies have been found so far, and police say fewer than 10 people may be unaccounted for.
The Waldo Canyon fire at the edge of Colorado Springs – home of the flagship US Olympic Committee training centre – was 30% contained. The danger has stopped investigators from visiting the area where the fire broke out on June 23 to determine the cause.
Crews kept a wary eye on weather that was getting warmer and drier.
“The weather is making progress in a bad direction. Hotter, drier, with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Winds will shift from one direction to another,” said incident commander Rich Harvey.
More than 30,000 people initially were evacuated, and more than 350 homes have burned. The two bodies were found in the ruins of one house. The victims’ names have not been released.
“It looks like hell. I would imagine it felt like a nuclear bomb went off. There was fire everywhere,” said exhausted firefighter Rich Rexach, who had been working 12-hour days since Tuesday.
But today, the mood was light as evacuees filtered back into one unscathed neighbourhood.
“I’m just wanting to kiss the house, dance with the neighbours”, Pat Allen said as she came home.
Mr Obama’s visit yesterday was seen as a partly political one, as the western state will be one of the top battlegrounds in November’s presidential election. Polls show the race is close between Mr Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
“Whether it’s fires in Colorado or flooding in the northern parts of Florida, when natural disasters like this hit, America comes together,” Mr Obama said after touring a neighbourhood where the fire left some homes standing.
He met a handful of evacuees but spent most of his time with firefighters or state and local officials.
Colorado, with huge swathes of independent-minded voters, holds significant political weight. In a tight election, its nine electoral votes could make the difference between a win or a loss in the state-by-state fight for the White House. Mr Obama won Colorado in 2008.
