Oklahomans Return to Find Little Left After Wildfires

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LUTHER, Okla.) -- Nearly 100 buildings, including five-dozen homes, have been destroyed in the past two days in Oklahoma, where severe weather contributed to the rapid spread of a number of wildfires. Hundreds of people were quickly evacuated from their homes as the blazes approached.

Residents returning to their neighborhoods Saturday found little left, after hot, dry weather and strong winds turned brush fires into firestorms. Investigators believe the fire in Luther, Okla., was started deliberately.

Oklahoma Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Mary Myers said there were “no arrests, no suspects” but deputies were “working around the clock” to find anyone responsible.

The fires are now largely under control, and residents who were forced out of their homes are returning to their neighborhoods, and finding little there.

The fire in Luther burned about 4 square miles, leaving families to sift through the ashes.

“We just barely got pictures out, we got a few clothes,” Tracy Streeper told ABC News. “We had maybe 30 minutes. Memories, home, everything’s gone.”

Next door, Casey Strahan took stock of what was left of his home.

“In a tornado, you can pick stuff up, and you dig through and you find things that are salvageable,” Strahan told ABC. “You come here, and you move anything, and it turns to dust.”

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin early this morning visited with families affected by the Luther fire.

“It’s heartbreaking to see families that have lost so much,” Fallin said after talking with some who lost their homes. “I gave them a hug, told them I was sorry.”

Her emergency managers have told her this year could bring one of the worst wildfire breakouts in the state’s history.

“This has been a very, very tough situation, when it’s over 110 degrees, and you’ve got huge flames and massive fires,” Gov. Fallin said.

Oklahomans say they will rebuild, but the weather shows no signs of cooling down, and the probability of more fires remains high. The weather is similar to last year’s, when state agencies ended up fighting 1,800 fires throughout the state.

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Many Colorado Wildfire Evacuees Allowed to Return Home

Chris Schneider/Getty Images(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- Some 7,000 residents of the Colorado Springs area were allowed to return to their homes on Sunday, but for many, they returned to a pile of rubble left behind by a wildfire that destroyed some 350 homes.  The blaze is now 45 percent contained.

Anne Marie Borrego of the American Red Cross says many evacuees of the Waldo Canyon wildfire had been under an evacuation order for days and had no idea what they would find when they returned home.  Many found they had lost everything.

Colorado officials say the number of evacuees from the wildfire now stands at 3,000, down from more than 30,000 at the peak of the fire.

Colorado Springs city official Steve Cox is warning residents that a burn ban is still in effect as the Fourth of July approaches.  Cox says the temptation to light fireworks may be great for some folks, but another wildfire would be the worst thing that could happen to the community.

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Colorado Wildfire Claims One Life, Destroys Nearly 350 Homes

Chris Schneider/Getty Images(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- The wildfire raging near Colorado Springs, Colo., has claimed one life and at least 347 homes, officials announced on Thursday.

At a late night news conference, Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said the remains of one human being were discovered at a residence that was destroyed by flames in the Mountain Shadows subdivision.  Another person from the same address is missing, he said.

Earlier in the day, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said hundreds of homes had been destroyed by the Waldo Canyon wildfire, and that city officials were working hard to gather information for evacuated residents to determine what neighborhoods were affected by the disaster.

"We are working through the process, which is very painstaking, of assessing every address to make sure that we have absolutely accurate information on each address," Bach said.

More than 1,000 firefighters are working to tame the blaze, which has already torched 16,750 acres.  It is not yet known what caused the fire.

On Friday, President Obama signed a disaster declaration for Colorado.

"The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Colorado and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the High Park and Waldo Canyon Fires beginning on June 9, 2012, and continuing," the White House said in a statement.

Obama will tour the areas hit hardest by the Waldo Canyon wildfire on Friday.

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Colorado Wildfire Sends Residents to Shelters

Chris Schneider/Getty Images(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- Pumping thick, black, suffocating smoke into the sky, the wildfire in Colorado Springs, Colo., has left 32,000 people scurrying for shelter and officials struggling to assess the damage.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said officials had no plans to release the number of homes destroyed, insisting that residents have a right to be told first, in private.

But the blazing inferno has kept officials at a distance. Conditions were unkind to firefighters on Wednesday as 65 mph winds refueled the fires in Waldo Canyon.  Recent aerial photos show entire neighborhoods wiped out.  
As of Thursday morning, residents don't know when they will be able to return home, or even if their home survived.

More than 1,000 firefighters are on the ground and many of the nation's fleet of C-130 planes are dumping retardant from the skies above.  Four of those C-130 planes dropped more than 60,000 gallons of retardant over Waldo Canyon Wednesday.

Satellite images from NASA show even those lucky to escape the flames might not escape the chocking plume of smoke over Colorado's second-largest city and beyond.

In Colorado Springs, doctors say the air quality right now is at least 10 times worse than it was before the fire.  Dr. Timothy Rummel says about 40 people have been to the emergency room because of smoke inhalation.

With the Fourth of July holiday approaching, authorities reminded residents to respect a ban on fireworks.  

President Obama will tour fire-stricken areas of Colorado on Friday and thank firefighters battling some of the worst fires to hit the American West in decades.

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Wildfire Menaces Colorado Springs, 32,000 Flee

Chris Schneider/Getty Images(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- A western wildfire being fueled by strong winds and scorching temperatures has burned past firefighters' defenses and is menacing the city of Colorado Springs. Firefighters battling the out of control blaze, which has grown to more than 15,000 acres, say they are bracing for worsening conditions.

"We expect further trouble from the weather today," said one official. "Thunderstorms present a unique problem for us. The wind can come in any direction from those ... at any time with pretty strong gusts."

About 1,000 firefighters are battling the Waldo Canyon blaze, which jumped to houses after getting refueled by 65 mph winds. About 32,000 people from Colorado Springs had to flee to safety. The fires are just 5 percent contained.

According to the Defense Department, four C-130s from the Air Force had released nearly 60,000 gallons of retardant over the canyon as of this morning.

Forty homes appeared to go up flames but authorities would not release an updated number. At the U.S. Air Force Academy, 700 cadets and personnel were ordered to leave.

Three shelters have been opened for evacuees and residents were urged to remain inside because of the unhealthy air quality.

There were no reports of injuries or new evacuations. Authorities said they had not yet determined the fire's cause despite reports of arson.

The windy weather and record heat hampered authorities' efforts to fight wildfires in the surrounding states as well. In addition to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana are under red-flag warnings, which warn of extreme fire danger.

One woman was found dead Tuesday after authorities revisited an evacuated area in Utah. Four homes were destroyed in northern Montana and a state of emergency was issued by the governor for four counties.

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Colorado Wildfire Rages On, Forces 32,000 to Evacuate

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) -- About 32,000 people have been evacuated indefinitely from their homes near Colorado Springs, Colo., as a wildfire there continues to grow and threaten homes, officials said Tuesday night.

The Waldo Canyon blaze, which was described Tuesday night by Colorado Springs Fire Chief Richard Brown as a "firestorm of epic proportions," also prompted the closure of the Air Force Academy, where a new class of cadets are due to report on Thursday.  It is not yet known if that schedule still stands.

Authorities said 65 mile per hour winds and near 100 degree temperatures on Tuesday helped the fire spread and bust through lines of containment.

Wednesday's forecast won't offer much help either to the more than 800 firefighters who are battling the flames.  Temperatures are expected to reach the high 90s and no significant rain is in sight.

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Colorado Wildfire Reaches Over 40K Acres, Claims One Life

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(DENVER) -- The massive wildfire burning in Larimer County, Colo., has scorched more than 41,000 acres so far, destroying dozens of homes in its tracks and claiming at least one life.

In a statement Monday, the county's sheriff said human remains were found in the ashes of a destroyed home in Bellvue.  Although no positive identification has yet been made, officials believe the remains are those of 62-year old Linda Steadman, the home's resident who had been reported missing days earlier.

The reported death comes as the wildfire doubled in size over the last 24 hours.  And if Tuesday's weather is any indication, the blaze is likely to continue growing.

Cooler weather helped firefighters on Monday, but Tuesday's forecast calls for warm, dry and windy conditions.  That could make it difficult for the 600 firefighters tackling the flames to get a handle on the fire, which is 0 percent contained.

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Colorado Wildfire Explodes in Size

Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A wildfire burning in the tinder-dry mountains 15 miles east of Ft. Collins, Colo., exploded in size today, growing from just a few acres to 5,000 acres-plus in a matter of hours.

“It was a tough day,” Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said. “I’ve been with the agency for 21 years. This is probably the fire we were always concerned we might possibly have.”

Hundreds of people have been evacuated and at least 10 structures have burned, although it’s not known if they are houses. There are many homes in the fire zone and Smith said there are an unknown number of people unaccounted for.

“Some people felt fairly confident that there may have been people trapped back there,” Smith said. “I’m very concerned with some of the reports.”

Two hundred firefighters are on the scene with more on the way. Five small air tankers, four helicopters and two heavy air tankers are already in the air with two more requested.

Much of Colorado has been under “red flag” fire weather warnings today, with temperatures higher than 90 degrees.

The blaze—dubbed the High Park Fire—has already been upgraded to the most serious level, a so-called “Type 1″ incident, meaning a federal command staff will take over strategy for fighting the fire beginning Sunday.

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Colorado Wildfire Deaths Blamed on 911 Malfunction

Chris Schneider/Getty Images(JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo.) -- Three people in Colorado are dead after an emergency 911 system malfunctioned and failed to alert them to evacuate their homes ahead of a raging wildfire.

The three victims had all contacted the Jefferson County 911 system to ask about the fire, but were not told by dispatchers to evacuate, and did not receive the automated notification in time to save their lives, according to Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

Sam Lucas, 77, and his wife, Linda, 76, called 911 after seeing smoke near their home on March 26, but were told the fire was a controlled burn started by the Colorado Forest Service. Shortly after the call, the fire spilled over the prescribed boundaries of the burn and quickly spread to the couple's home.

The automated reverse-911 alert service, which is set up to notify residents of emergencies, placed a call to the Lucases’ home, but it was too late. The couple died as their house was engulfed in flames.

A third fire victim, Ann Appel, also called 911 to report smoke in the air around 2:30 p.m. on March 26. Dispatchers told Appel that the fire was covering five acres and growing, and that fire crews were on the way, but did not tell her to evacuate, Kelley said. A reverse-911 notification went out at 5:05 p.m. to neighbors in Appel's vicinity, but the Appel home was not notified, family members told ABC affiliate KMGH.

The Appel family said that video from the scene of the fires showed Appel's home in flames by 5 p.m., making the reverse 911 call too late to help, even if it had reached her home.

According to the Sheriff's Department, the reverse 911 system malfunctioned, notifying only 88 percent of residents that should have been evacuated. The system is operated by a company called First Call, which the department said is reevaluating its contract with.

Kelley said that the 911 dispatchers accurately relayed the information they had to callers, changing the information throughout the day as the fire spread, but that the evacuation alert system failed to reach residents in time.

"We want the same answers our public does, why didn't our system work when we needed it to," said Kelley. She said there have been multiple meetings between the sheriff's department and First Call, the company that operates the alert system.

"Never wait for law enforcement or the fire department to tell you to get out if you don't feel safe. You don't have to wait for us to tell you to leave, you're allowed to leave," she added.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper responded to the deaths by organizing a four-member, independent investigative team to look into the fire. The head of the team, William Bass, is a forest supervisor from Wyoming. The independent review is expected to take 30 days, according to KMGH.

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Colorado Wildfire Kills One, Forces Hundreds to Evacuate

Hemera Technologies/ThinkstockUPDATE: A second fatality was reported early Tuesday afternoon.

(DENVER) -- One person was killed and hundreds more evacuated from their homes in Colorado on Monday as a fast-moving wildfire burned through more than four-and-a-half square miles, authorities said.

The death was confirmed overnight by the sheriff's office in Jefferson County, a largely rural area 25 miles southwest of Denver where the wildfire was first reported midday Monday.

Authorities said the fire, which officials suspect flared up from a controlled burn in the area last week, spread quickly because of dry and windy conditions in the area.

More than 900 homes were evacuated Monday, and authorities overnight told homeowners in surrounding neighborhoods to be ready to leave immediately should the direction of the flame shift.

Authorities said the fire was spread by winds gusting as high as 70 miles per hour and that made it grow more than 100 times in size in just a matter of hours.

Jefferson County officials were asking for help from fire departments as far away as Arizona to assist the nearly 100 firefighters on the ground now.  Authorities also hoped to have air tankers available to drop fire retardant on the flames Tuesday.

“We’ve asked for air support and we’re hoping, crossing our fingers, that we get that tomorrow,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelly said Monday.  “We asked for it today and they simply couldn’t fly because it’s too dangerous.”

Evacuees were moved to temporary shelters in two high schools and the Red Cross was activating its resources to help as well.

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