The roaring Waldo Canyon fire that exploded into west-side neighborhoods of Colorado Springs destroyed 346 homes — making it the most destructive wildfire in state history. It also has claimed at least one life. 
 
 Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey announced late Thursday that human remains had been found in a burned home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood. A second person is missing, he said. He said the body was found in the rubble at 2910 Rossmere St. No further details were released. 
 
 Residents of three dozen streets in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood were summoned to a meeting Thursday night at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. There, they learned with certainty which of their homes had survived and which had fallen in the unprecedented firestorm Tuesday afternoon and evening. 
 
 "This is going to be a tough evening, but we're going to get through it," Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said before the meeting. "This community is going to mount an unprecedented response to this. ... This community will surround them with love and encouragement, and we will move forward as a city." 
 
 At the meeting, people were gathered by street to receive the news. 
 
 "People finding out for the first time were in tears," Byron Largent said, but it was good to "see the way the street came together and supported each other." 
 
 Byron and his wife Rebekah, who lived on Majestic Drive, said they already knew their news was bad, because they had seen an aerial photo in The Denver Post. 
 
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 The Largents lost their home on the daughter Emma's first birthday. 
 
 "We got us out, our daughter out and our cat out," he said. "What else matters?" 
 
 Even as bad news was being spread, firefighters were ending a good day on the fire lines as cooler temperatures and even a squall of rain fell over the 16,750-acre fire. 
 
 Effective at 8 p.m., mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for some neighborhoods, but remained in effect for Cedar Heights, Mountain Shadows, Peregrine and areas north of Rockrimmon. 
 
 Evacuee Alexandrea Hermes and her daughter Ava, 5, watch as smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire rises behind them Thursday while swimming in the pool at the hotel where they are staying. They were forced leave their home on the Air Force Academy base in Colorado Springs. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) 
 
 By evening, officials said, crews had 15 percent containment on the Waldo Canyon fire, which has been burning west of the city since Saturday. 
 
 Colorado Springs police officials said 10 people remain unaccounted for since Tuesday's blow-up, and authorities were trying to locate them through friends and family. 
 
 Police also said they expect some "property crimes" to have occurred at some homes that have been empty because of mandatory evacuations. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of burglary. 
 
 Frustration grew Thursday among residents who — at that point — had been out of their homes for days, some since the weekend. 
 
 At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Mountain Shadows resident David Dougherty waved a copy of the statewide evacuation policy and demanded that he be let in. 
 
 "You don't have the authority to keep me out of my house," Dougherty shouted to Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey, who calmly told the man that since Colorado Springs is a home-rule city, it does have the authority to supersede the state order. 
 
 The fickle nature of the flames — which on some streets wiped out houses on either side of homes that remained standing — was illustrated by the experience of another resident. 
 
 Lynn Becka and her husband had been evacuated and came to the afternoon meeting seeking answers. They learned that their house had been spared. 
 
 "We lost everything three years ago, and the thought of going through that again was unbearable," she said. 
 
 Three years ago, the family lost most of their possessions when mounting bills for their son's medical treatments prevented them from paying rent on a storage unit in Illinois. 
 
 "We lived pretty much without furniture for a year and a half," she said. "We just started buying furniture this past year." 
 
 Just two days before the Waldo Canyon fire roared into their neighborhood, the family was putting together pots, pans and other items to give to a family who had lost their home in a different wildfire. 
 
 Bach said he doesn't agree with former Gov. Bill Owens that President Barack Obama's visit Friday will be a distraction and is "ill-advised." 
 
 Bach said he welcomes Obama and said city officials have told the White House that the city won't be able to offer resources to provide security for the president's visit. "I really appreciate the president coming here ... "And I do plan to ask for cash." 
 
 Staff writers Sara Burnett, Kurtis Lee, Jordan Steffen and Erin Udell contributed to this report. ||||| Rookie firefighter Emily Franklin battled her first blaze this week and among the casualties was her own house. 
 
 The fire, one of several wildfires plaguing Colorado, turned her childhood home into cinders and reduced her car to a metal skeleton in the driveway. 
 
 "This is my first fire and it was my own home," Franklin, 18, told ABC News."Great way to kick off a career." 
 
 Franklin actually watched her own house going up in smoke while working with her colleagues to help save the town from the fire. 
 
 The rookie firefighter sprang into action while home and seeing flames spread from house to house in her Estes Park neighborhood, incinerating trees in its wake. She raced around with her garden hose, shouting for neighbors to get out of their houses and turn their hoses on. 
 
 Once firefighters arrived, she drove down to the command center with her gear and took assignments dowsing other flames. 
 
 "I look through the trees and see fire going under our deck, and I was like, 'I think that's my house,'" She said. "It goes up, and I was like, 'That's my house!" 
 
 Still, she kept working, and spent the rest of the day directing traffic and taking other assignments. 
 
 The Estes Park fire is one of several wildfires that raging in Colorado. The largest, the Waldo Canyon fire, has destroyed hundreds of home and scorched 18,500 acres despite the efforts of more than 1,000 firefighters trying to bring it under control. 
 
 Nevertheless, Franklin said she's lucky no one in her family was hurt. 
 
 "I guess anything can happen in a matter of 10 minutes," she said. "Getting out was the most important thing, so that's what we did." 
 
 She described the firefighters' work as "truly amazing." 
 
 "I think without firefighters, the entire town of Estes would be gone," she said. ||||| COLORADO SPRINGS — The Waldo Canyon fire, which officials here called "very aggressive," spread in three directions and displaced about 11,000 people from their homes as fires continued to burn statewide Sunday. 
 
 Nearly half that total — about 5,000 living in Manitou Springs — were allowed to return to their homes beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday. Mandatory evacuations remained in place for Cascade, Green Mountain Falls and Chipita Park. 
 
 Situated several miles west of Colorado Springs, the fire — which for many residents in this southern Colorado city became a spectacle — charred at least 2,500 acres and forced evacuations of about 4,000 homes in El Paso County. 
 
 "This is a day we've long dreaded would come," Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. 
 
 While officials reported no structural damage at the afternoon news conference, the fire remained at zero containment, with another acreage assessment slated for this morning. 
 
 Greg Heule, a public-information officer for the Waldo Canyon fire, said 450 firefighters from several agencies were working to contain it. 
 
 "The fire has been very, very active," Heule said. "I anticipate quite a few more acres than what we currently have." 
 
 A Type 1 incident command team, the highest classification for fire disasters, was requested by local fire officials and is expected to take over the operations at the fire as early as today. 
 
 Moreover, four specially equipped C-130 military transport planes — capable of dropping 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in less than five seconds — are slated to help with the fire. 
 
 Two of the aircraft will be provided by the 302nd Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve, Peterson Air Force Base, and two by the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, Cheyenne. 
 
 Sulyn Wallace said she received a knock on her door at 2 a.m. from police telling her to evacuate. 
 
 Evacuees head east on Highway 24 towards Manitou Springs as they race to get away from the fire. The Waldo Canyon fire continues to burn northwest of Manitou Springs, Colorado today June 24th, 2012. The fire which is threatening the Cedar Heights neighborhood has already consume over 2,500 acres with 0% containment. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post (THE DENVER POST | Helen H. Richardson) 
 
 "It's just shocking. It's really scary to see the smoke this close to home," said Wallace, who has lived in Manitou for about 20 years and had never been evacuated. 
 
 Roy Byrne moved to Manitou Springs six months ago from Las Vegas. 
 
 "I'm not used to this fire stuff," Byrne said. "I barely had any time to get my belongings and get out." 
 
 Gov. John Hickenlooper met with fire officials and said more than half the nation's fleet of firefighting resources is now in Colorado. 
 
 The fire began Saturday afternoon, and there was no information on what sparked it. In neighboring Teller County, arson is suspected as the cause of some wildfires. 
 
 A Manitou Springs police officer who declined to give his name keeps people away from the entrance to Manitou Springs on Colorado Ave. They arrived thinking they were allowed back but officials have said the evacuation orders will be lifted at 8:00 pm tonight June 24th, 2012. It was about 7:15 so many people pulled to the side of the road to wait for the reopening of the town. The Waldo Canyon fire continues to burn northwest of Manitou Springs, Colorado today June 24th, 2012. The fire which is threatening the Cedar Heights neighborhood, has already consume over 2,500 acres with 0% containment. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post (THE DENVER POST | Helen H. Richardson) 
 
 When asked about the chance that arson may have been involved in the Waldo Canyon fire, Hickenlooper said: "It makes me crazy. I can't even think straight." 
 
 Officials with the Red Cross estimated that more than 200 people stayed at Cheyenne Mountain High School on Saturday night, with more expected to arrive Sunday. 
 
 Jeannie Jonack was evacuated from her Manitou home and sat next to a cot she had claimed in the school's gymnasium. 
 
 "You never see fires this close to the city," Jonack said. "I remember the smoke from the Hayman, which was nearby but not right on top of us like this one." 
 
 At a morning briefing, Bach said, "We're just really concerned about the speed at which this fire is spreading." 
 
 Marco Clark, 29, (left) and his brother, Alex, 23, watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns outside of Colorado Springs on Sunday, June 24, 2012. AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post (THE DENVER POST | AARON ONTIVEROZ) 
 
 "We're hoping that with additional federalized resources in here we can make some progress on this the next couple of days," Bach said. 
 
 Sunday night, an orange haze from the fire blanketed much of Colorado Springs. 
 
 Officials closed Cheyenne Canon Park, Palmer Park and Garden of the Gods as a precaution because of the high fire danger. 
 
 The Colorado Springs Fire Department reported flames from the Waldo Canyon fire as high as 100 feet Saturday night, moving a half-mile to a mile per hour. 
 
 The Penrose Equestrian Center was providing shelter for large animals evacuated from the fire area. 
 
 To the north in Douglas County, another small fire prompted some pre-evacuation notices Sunday. 
 
 COLORADO SPRINGS - A C-130 transport plane heads back to reload after making a run at the Waldo Fire Monday, June 25, 2012. Steve Nehf, The Denver Post (THE DENVER POST | Steve Nehf) 
 
 The Trout Creek fire started after 2 p.m. about half a mile east of Highway 67 in Pike National Forest. 
 
 Fire officials sent out a pre-evacuation notice to 155 homes in West Creek and Trout Creek subdivisions. 
 
 The fire was estimated at about 25 acres Sunday afternoon, with full containment expected by nighttime. 
 
 There were 20 firefighters battling the fire, assisted by a helicopter and two single-engine air tankers. 
 
 Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655, klee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kurtisalee 
 
 11,000 
 
 Number of people evacuated at one point in Waldo Canyon fire 
 
 248 
 
 Homes destroyed in High Park fire 
 
 2012 Fires 
 
 Lower North Fork fire 
 
 Date started: March 22 
 
 Location: One mile east of Foxton 
 
 Acres: 4,140 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: 27 
 
 Casualties/injuries: Three homeowners died from smoke inhalation and exposure to flames. 
 
 Status: 100 percent contained April 2 
 
 Little Sand fire 
 
 Date started: May 13, still active 
 
 Location: 13 miles northwest of Pagosa Springs 
 
 Acres: 20,416 on Sunday afternoon 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Firefighters working: 181 on Sunday afternoon 
 
 Casualties: None 
 
 Status: 31 percent contained Sunday afternoon 
 
 Hewlett fire 
 
 Date started: May 14 
 
 Location: North of Highway 14 in Poudre Canyon 
 
 Acres: 7,658 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Casualties: None 
 
 Status: 100 percent contained May 22 
 
 Sunrise Mine fire 
 
 Date started: May 25 
 
 Location: Four miles north of Paradox 
 
 Acres: 5,742 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status: 100 percent contained June 3 
 
 Springer fire 
 
 Date started: June 17 
 
 Location: Three miles from Lake George 
 
 Acres: 1,145 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Casualties/injuries: Firefighters suffered three minor injuries 
 
 Status: 100 percent contained Saturday 
 
 High Park fire 
 
 Date started: June 9 
 
 Location: 15 miles west of Fort Collins 
 
 Acres: 83,205 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: 248 as of Sunday evening 
 
 Firefighters working: 1,923 
 
 Casualties/injuries: One casualty; two firefighters injured but not fire- related 
 
 Status: 45 percent Sunday afternoon 
 
 Woodland Heights fire 
 
 Date started: Saturday 
 
 Location: Estes Park 
 
 Acres: 27.3 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: 22 
 
 Firefighters working: Unknown 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status:75 percent containment as of Sunday afternoon; 100 percent containment anticipated by Sunday night 
 
 Stateline fire 
 
 Date started: Saturday 
 
 Location: Durango, near the Colorado-New Mexico border 
 
 Acres: 350 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: One 
 
 Firefighters working: Unknown 
 
 Casualties/injuries: Two firefighters treated for smoke inhalation Saturday 
 
 Status: 15 percent containment as of Sunday afternoon 
 
 Treasure fire 
 
 Date started: Saturday 
 
 Location: Mosquito Peak, outside of Leadville 
 
 Acres: 300 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None reported as of Sunday afternoon 
 
 Firefighters working: 62 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status: Five percent containment as of Sunday afternoon 
 
 Waldo Canyon fire 
 
 Date started: Saturday 
 
 Location: Pike National Forest, El Paso County 
 
 Acres: 2,500 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Firefighters working: 450 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status: Zero containment as of Sunday afternoon 
 
 CR-102 fire 
 
 Date started: Sunday 
 
 Location: Near Elbert in El Paso County 
 
 Acres: 600 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status: 90 percent contained by 4:50 p.m. Sunday 
 
 Trout Creek fire 
 
 Date started: Sunday 
 
 Location: Half a mile east of Highway 67 
 
 Acres: 15-20 
 
 Homes destroyed or damaged: None 
 
 Firefighters working: 20 
 
 Casualties/injuries: None 
 
 Status: Unknown containment as of Sunday evening 
 
 Sarah Simmons, The Denver Post ||||| Story highlights The Waldo Canyon Fire is 70% contained 
 
 Fire growth has stopped; crews are in "mop-up mode," incident commander says 
 
 Some remaining evacuees could be home in days, an official says 
 
 So far this year, 1.9 million acres have burned in wildfires, federal agency says 
 
 Firefighters reported more advances Monday against the Waldo Canyon wildfire, saying they've stopped the fire's growth and are working on putting out hot spots within its charred 17,920-acre footprint. 
 
 "It has not moved. Perimeter growth: nothing," incident commander Rich Harvey said Monday. "Now we're into the mop-up mode." 
 
 It was hopeful news for the 3,000 residents who remained under mandatory evacuation orders Monday. 
 
 The focus is on getting people back into their homes as soon as possible, said Steve Cox, who is with Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach's office. 
 
 "In some cases, we're talking days, not weeks," he said. 
 
 Evacuation orders for all except the hardest hit areas were lifted by late Sunday for most of the 32,000 residents who were forced from their homes after winds last week whipped the blaze that has been described as the most destructive in state history. The fire killed two people, destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more. 
 
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 The U.S. Forest Service has warned it could be mid-July before the fire is fully under control. As of Monday evening, the fire was 70% contained. 
 
 The blaze is one of several Western wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota -- where authorities said a U.S. Air Force C-130 assisting in the firefighting effort crashed Sunday night. 
 
 The aircraft crashed while fighting the White Draw Fire near Edgemont, South Dakota, the U.S. Northern Command said. No information was available about the crew. 
 
 The crash prompted the U.S. Air Force to ground all firefighting equipped C-130 planes. Including the one went down, eight such military planes had been deployed since June 24 to fight wildfires in the Rocky Mountain region -- including in Colorado to combat the Waldo Canyon Fire -- and thus are affected by the order, said National Interagency Fire Center spokeswoman Jennifer Jones. 
 
 While hopes were high for further advances, fire crews were mindful of the possibility of erratic gusty winds that could cause a sudden and unpredictable outbreak, incident commander Rich Harvey told reporters. 
 
 While crews work to put the fire out for good, investigators are scouring the burned-out landscape for clues to what started the now 17,920-acre fire. 
 
 The FBI has joined agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as local authorities to investigate the cause of the fire that began in the early afternoon of June 23 in the Pike National Forest, about three miles west of Colorado Springs. 
 
 Federal agents joined the investigation after reports emerged that an arsonist possibly started the wildfire, which has cost more than $11 million to date to fight. 
 
 Investigators had not yet come to any conclusions, Lt. Jeff Kramer of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said Monday. 
 
 With most of the evacuation orders lifted, a steady stream of motorists made their way on ash-covered roads to their homes late Sunday. 
 
 "We'd ask that (residents return) in an orderly fashion," said Cox, an assistant to the Colorado Springs mayor. 
 
 "Our strategy will be that we continue to shrink that focus area down and down, and get people back in their homes as soon as we can." 
 
 District Attorney Dan May warned would-be looters that he intends to deal harshly with anyone who tries to loot evacuated homes, promising potential prison sentences of more than two decades for each break-in. 
 
 map released by Colorado Springs officials showed the fire's fury as it hopscotched through neighborhoods, burning some houses, damaging others and, inexplicably, skipping over some. 
 
 Lists of addresses put out by local officials spelled out the toll with simple descriptions: "no visible damage," "visible damage" and "total loss." 
 
 On streets with names that reflect the city's serene surroundings, Majestic Drive and Mirror Lake Court, the toll was unimaginable with nearly every house damaged or destroyed. 
 
 Some returned Sunday temporarily to these streets to survey the damage. 
 
 Among them was Susan Solich, who is caring for her four young grandsons after their parents died last year. 
 
 She drove onto the street in the Mountain Shadows area where she'd lived for 18 years to find some trees and homes still standing, but not hers. 
 
 "I've seen pictures, but it didn't really impact me the way it did, turning into my driveway," Solich told CNN on Sunday. 
 
 "My home was gone; it was imploded into the ground." 
 
 Sallie Clark, El Paso County commissioner, said several organizations are working together to help those rebuild their lives, including assembling records. 
 
 Solich said members of her family won't leave Colorado but they're not necessarily putting down roots again in Colorado Springs either. Her focus for now is taking care of the children and making it through each day. 
 
 "It won't be quite the same. It's kind of like the Twilight Zone," she said. "So many of our friends are gone, and they won't be back." 
 
 Ted and Kate Stefani, meanwhile, vowed to return and rebuild. 
 
 Video they shot showed a giant hole where their home once stood. All that remained was one stray column from near their front door plus a charred seat from which they'd first spotted flames in the distance. 
 
 "We're going to rebuild there. We love that block, we just love that community. ... And it's our home," Ted Stefani said. 
 
 All told, 52 active fires across the country have claimed 901,215 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. 
 
 So far in 2012, the agency has tracked 27,176 fires that have burned nearly 1.9 million acres, the agency said. 
 
 In 2011, when wildfires raged across much of Texas, 35,574 fires burned 4.7 million acres, according to the agency.
– The Waldo Canyon fire blazing through Colorado Springs has claimed its first victim: Human remains were found in one burned home, police announced last night, and a second person living in the home is missing, the Gazette reports. Ten people in all are still unaccounted for. Nearly 350 homes have been destroyed so far in the wildfire, the most destructive in Colorado's history. The Denver Post has heartbreaking stories from evacuees, like the couple who lost their home on their daughter's first birthday. But ABC News has perhaps one of the saddest stories of all: Emily Franklin, 18 and a rookie firefighter battling her first fire this week, watched her own home burn in the Estes Park fire, another wildfire in the state. "I look through the trees and see fire going under our deck, and I was like, 'I think that's my house,'" she says. "It goes up, and I was like, 'That's my house!" Even so, she kept working. President Obama, visiting Colorado today, issued a disaster declaration for the state so that federal funds can be made available, the AP adds. Click for more photos of the devastation.