WALDO CANYON FIRE: Gains made as destruction tallied

On Majestic Drive, block after block of homes were leveled by Tuesday’s firestorm. Water streamed from broken and melted pipes. Burned-out cars sat in driveways, and smoke curled from Blodgett Peak to the north.

Here, President Barack Obama stopped Friday to shake firefighters’ hands and see the devastation wreaked on the Mountain Shadows neighborhood.

Obama asked the firefighters how they had protected three houses standing amid the rubble.

“You have a house that’s cinders. Next to it, it’s untouched,” the president said.

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High Park Fire – June 23, 2012 – While flying overhead in space this weekend, NASA’s Terra satellite captured smoke and heat signatures from Colorado’s High Park Fire at 1815 UTC (2:15 p.m. EDT/12:15 MDT) on June 23, 2012.

Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado — As of June 28, 2012, at least 300 homes have been destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., according to the Denver Post newspaper. NASA’s Aqua satellite flew overhead on June 26 and captured an image of the smoke plume as more evacuations continued.

Other:

Firefighting Planes Battle Wildfires And Old Age : NPR: As wildfires continue to burn in the West, the U.S. Forest Service is going to battle this summer with fewer air tankers. The number of planes that drop retardant on fires has shrunk significantly over the past 12 years. [...] In 2000, the Forest Service had contracts with private companies for 43 air tankers. Today, that number is nine.

[...] Jones says the Forest Service has appealed to Congress for funding for more tankers. “We are deeply committed to modernizing and improving our large air tanker fleet, and we’ve been taking a number of steps toward that goal,” she says. Two weeks ago, the Forest Service awarded contracts that will add a total of seven newer tankers this year and next.  [...] But Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, is disappointed by the new contracts, which he sees as nothing more than a Band-Aid. ”This is a national security issue. It’s a public safety issue,” Hall says. “It’s one that demands national attention and national direction.”