SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) — US President Barack Obama has toured neighbourhoods ravaged by a wildfire which drove tens of thousands of people from their homes in a Colorado city.
The visit comes after Mr Obama issued a disaster declaration, allowing federal funds to be used to combat the blaze.
Searchers have found a second body at a burned-out Colorado Springs home, where two people had been reported missing.
The Waldo Canyon fire has destroyed 346 houses, making it the most destructive in the state's history.
Mr Obama was met in Colorado Springs by Mayor Steve Bach, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, and Senator Mark Udall.
On Friday morning, officials said the fire was 15% contained and that favourable weather conditions helped firefighting crews make good progress overnight.
Incident commander Richard Harvey said there had been no perimeter growth of the fire, and no additional structures were lost or damaged.
But the forest service has warned that it could still take weeks to get the wildfires under control.
Another blaze in northern Colorado - the High Park fire - has killed one person and razed 257 homes, officials have said.
Half of America's firefighting resources, some 1,100 personnel, have been deployed in the state, where nearly 160,000 acres have burned.
Body found
Some mandatory evacuation notices have been lifted, authorities said on Friday, enabling some people to begin returning home. —www.shafaqna.com/english/
