By Keerthi Chandrashekar (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jun 29, 2012 03:02 PM EDT

President Obama is scheduled to travel to the areas of the raging Waldo Canyon wildfire that has been devastating homes and people for almost a week this Friday. His visit will come after the first death was discovered Friday in a charred home.

Obama also declared Colorado to be in a state of "major" disaster, citing the 35,000 people who have been evacuated thus far. The declaration will allow for federal aid to start flowing into the state.

Officials had been reluctant to offer details on the damage until Thursday, where they said 100 homes were destroyed and around 20,000 in danger of the fire. As of Friday, they revised their numbers to 347 homes destroyed, but still said 20,000 homes were within reach.

This wildfire season has been described by Colorado's governor as the worst ever, and Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said that a body was found in a burned house Friday. It marks the first death of the Waldo Canyon fire and the fifth killed this year.

The Waldo Canyon fire began last Saturday and broke through containment lines on Tuesday. By Wednesday, it had almost doubled in size, and as of Thursday had burned around 18,500 acres.

High temperatures and strong winds had given the firefighters a hard time, and as of Thursday only five percent of the fire was contained. Thursday's weather, however, proved to be more favorable, and as of Friday, officials declare that 15 percent of the fire has been contained. They expect a full containment of the fire by mid-July.

Three wildfires in Colorado have burned an estimated 106,000 acres of land as of Wednesday, June 27.

 

© 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.