June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Emotions ran high in Colorado Springs as hundreds of people, forced to flee their wooded subdivisions, learned whether their homes survived the most destructive wildfire in state history.
A search on foot through neighborhoods burned out by the Waldo Canyon fire showed at least 346 residences destroyed in Colorado’s second-largest city, Mayor Steve Bach said yesterday. One person was found dead in a home where two others were reported missing, Police Chief Pete Carey said late yesterday.

High winds and drought fed flames that have consumed almost 29 square miles (75 square kilometers), about the size of Manhattan. The fire threatened the U.S. Air Force Academy and forced 30,000 evacuees to seek shelter -- some allowed to return home last night. President Barack Obama is to tour the area today.
Counselors were on hand at a University of Colorado auditorium as residents were ushered into side rooms, according to street name, where city workers told them whether their homes survived. Earlier, shouting people confronted fire and police officials, demanding access to evacuated areas.
“I looked at the list of homes tonight and our whole neighborhood is leveled,” said Rebekah Largent, 31, whose home on Majestic Drive was destroyed. “It’s unrecognizable.”
Some people who filtered out of the meeting said they knew their status before they arrived.
“We had seen pictures,” Largent said.
“We lost a lot of possessions -- some are replaceable, some are not,” said her husband, Byron, 27. They had lived in the home since February, he said.
Birthday Fire
The fire reached their home June 26, the birthday of their 1-year-old daughter, Emma. They lost Rebekah’s wedding dress, her grandmother’s china and “the rocking chair we rocked our baby in for a year,” Byron said.
More than 1,000 people were fighting the fire, which was 15 percent contained late yesterday, according to data compiled by the Incident Information System from agencies including the U.S. Forest Service and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
While residents in some western neighborhoods were allowed to return home, mandatory evacuations remained in some south and northwest parts of the city, said Bret Waters, the emergency management director.
Under Investigation
The origin of the blaze, during what’s shaping up to be the state’s heaviest wildfire season in a decade, is under investigation. Drought and winds have fueled fires across the western U.S., including Idaho, Montana and New Mexico. In Colorado, at least nine have charred about 240 square miles.
“It is still the highest priority in the country -- the fires in Colorado right now,” said Rocky Opliger, an incident commander leading the fight against a fire near Boulder.
Some wildfires could persist for months until cooler, wetter weather arrives as the seasons change, he said.
For some, the news yesterday was good.
Miles Prim learned that both his apartment and business survived and that he could return to both. Prim is vice president of operations for a specialty electronics manufacturer with 58 employees in a western section of town.