Caution after Colorado wildfire ‘mostly contained’

Firefighters say they have made progress in the struggle to contain Colorado’s most destructive wildfire on record.

People who had been evacuated have been returning to their homes as emergency services said most of the fire had been contained.

The Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs killed two people, destroyed more than 300 homes and forced more than 30,000 people to flee.

After high winds ravaged the tinder-dry vegetation, welcome rains are now forecast.

“The prognosis is very good but you can’t rule out that, you know, high winds could kick it up again, so we want everybody to still have a degree of caution,” said Richard Brown, Chief of Colorado Springs Fire Department.

Some of those returning home have found cars reduced to nothing but charred metal, homes wiped out.

Elsewhere the US military grounded around ten C-130 firefighting planes after a fatal crash in South Dakota that killed some members of the National Guard.

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