Pumping think, black, suffocating smoke into the sky, the devastating Colorado Springs wildfire has left 32,000 people scurrying for shelter and officials struggling to assess the damage.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said officials had no plans to release the numbers of homes destroyed, insisting that residents have a right to be told first, in private.
But the blazing inferno has kept officials at a distance. Conditions were unkind to firefighters Wednesday as 65 mph winds refueled the fires in Waldo Canyon. Recent aerial photos show entire neighborhoods wiped out. As of this morning, residents don't know when they will be able to return home, or even if their home survived.
