US President Barack Obama arrived in Colorado today to tour the devastation left by a wildfire he has declared a "major disaster".
The fire has destroyed 347 homes and forced the evacuation of 35,000 people from the edge of the state's second-largest city.
Before landing, Air Force One flew over part of the Rocky Mountains where smoke could be seen rising from the areas ravaged by what officials say is the most destructive blaze in state history.
At least one death has been blamed on the fire.
The blaze had roared unchecked on Tuesday night through communities in the northwestern corner of the city and threatened the US Air Force Academy campus.
But the lighter winds that helped firefighters gain new ground against the inferno yesterday were expected to continue today, fire officials said at a news conference.
They said the wildfire did not grow overnight and it is now 15% contained.
Aerial photos of devastation unleashed by the so-called Waldo Canyon Fire showed large swaths of neighbourhoods reduced to gray ash - one house after another obliterated while adjacent dwellings survived mostly unscathed.
Authorities confirmed the full extent of destruction today, with 347 houses gutted by fire and more than 20,000 homes still threatened by the blaze.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said a body was found in the debris of a burned-out home, marking the first known death from the blaze.
The person became the fifth killed this year in a Colorado wildfire season described by the governor as the worst ever in the state.
Two people were reported missing at the residence where a body was found yesterday, Mr Carey said, noting that fewer than 10 people remained missing.
