COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (CNN) -
President Obama is headed to Colorado Friday to survey the damage and thank first responders for their tireless fight against fierce wildfires.
It's just one state battling vicious fires that threaten homes, businesses, and thousands of acres of land.
Ahead of his visit later Friday, President Obama signed a declared the state a major disaster area and ordered federal aid to help state and local recovery efforts.
FEMA is also on the ground here in Colorado, surveying the damage that can only be described as devastating.
The Colorado horizon is engulfed in flames.
Families are fleeing their homes, sometimes with no where to go.
Hotel rooms are hard to come by.
We sat in a parking lot in Castle Rock, homeless. For hours, trying to figure out what to do.
Faith Csikesz and her family were taken in by strangers.
Just one of the many acts of kindness during a terrifying time in Colorado Springs.
The ferocious Waldo Canyon fire has already claimed nearly 350 homes.
Entire neighborhoods are wiped out.
The U.S. Forest Service fears it could be mid-July before the flames are under control.
Relief arrived to the statewide effort Thursday in the form of calmer winds and slightly cooler temperatures.
More of the same is in the forecast for Friday.
But for some 180,000 plus acres of charred land burned in fires around the state, that relief is too little, too late.
Tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders.
Others are watching the fires creep closer, hoping their home is not next.
Some can only wait for word that it's safe to go home and pray that their home is still there when they arrive.
We don't know when we are going to get back in, but right now, trying not to think about it.
Authorities say the fire here is about 15% contained.
Search crews are searching areas where the flames have been extinguished.
Thursday night they discovered a charred body in a hard hit neighborhood.
Authorities are still trying to account for those missing.
