Still burning near Colorado Springs, the Waldo Canyon fire is now the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, claiming 346 homes and two lives. Residents of affected neighborhoods, who were briefly allowed to return and survey the damage, described "unreal" scenes where houses that burned down to their foundations stood side-by-side with homes that appeared completely untouched. While the Waldo Canyon fire is now 55 percent contained, it is only one of dozens of fires still blazing across the west.
Colorado Wildfires: The Aftermath
-
Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire, seen from the air in a neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 30, 2012. The massive fire, which has eased with the help of cooler temperatures and lighter winds, has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 35,000 people to flee. #
Spencer Platt/Getty Images -
-
Residents Lindsay Hetzel and Nathan Birdseye sit on a cliff overlooking the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs, on June 30, 2012. Crews battling a deadly Colorado wildfire ranked the most destructive in state history have made enough headway to allow most evacuees home, but concerns remain about rogue bears and burglaries in vacant houses, officials said. #
Reuters/Adrees Latif -
-
Plumes of smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire rise in front of a sunset in Colorado Springs, on July 1, 2012. The fire has scorched some 18,000 acres, burned 346 homes and devastated communities around Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city, since it began eight days earlier. #
Reuters/Adrees Latif -
-
An ominous cloud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire rises from the south behind the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel as cadets head for a briefing on evacuation procedures in Colorado Springs, in this June 27, 2012 photograph. The Academy evacuated more than 600 families and 110 dormitory residents from the base the evening of June 27. #
Reuters/Carol Lawrence/U.S. Air Force -
Rich Harvey, the Incident Commander of the National Incident Management Team, places his hand over a map of the Waldo Canyon fire during a news conference in Colorado Springs, on July 1, 2012. #
Reuters/Adrees Latif -
-
-
Scorched hillsides and hundreds of damaged or destroyed homes from the Waldo Canyon fire, seen from the air (Pike's Peak in the background) above Colorado Springs, on June 28, 2012. #
Reuters/Rick Wilking -
Fire evacuees Jim and Lynn Becka react after learning their home was not one of the hundreds destroyed in the Waldo Canyon fire, on June 28, 2012 at a news conference in Colorado Springs. The couple, who had already lost one home due to financial hardship were relieved to learn they had not lost a second home. #
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images -
Policemen stand guard near residents who were temporarily allowed to visit their homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs, on July 1, 2012. #
Reuters/Adrees Latif -
-
-
An aerial view of the Flying W Ranch, destroyed in the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs, on June 27, 2012. The Flying W Ranch was a working mountain cattle ranch and popular tourist attraction. The owners have committed to rebuilding. #
Reuters/John Wark -
-
-
President Barack Obama talks with firefighters as he tours the Mountain Shadow neighborhood devastated by a wildfire in Colorado Springs, on June 29, 2012. After declaring a "major disaster" in the state early Friday and promising federal aid, President Obama got a firsthand view of the wildfires and their toll on residential communities. #
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster -
-
-
Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home which was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire, June 30, 2012 in Bellvue, Colorado west of Fort Collins. The inferno burned more than 87,000 acres and left one person dead and destroyed 259 homes. The High Park Fire, which started June 9 from a lightning spark, is the second-largest and second-most destructive fire in Colorado state history. #
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images -
-
Neighbors, who evacuated their homes from the encroaching Waldo Canyon fire, embrace after returning to their homes in Colorado Springs,on July 1, 2012. Residents began returning to charred areas of Colorado Springs on Sunday after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and left the landscape a blackened wasteland. The neighbors wished to stay unidentified due to "jealous spouses," they said. #
Reuters/Adrees Latif
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.