-- sandra endo joins us live with the late. >> reporter: president obama authorized federal funds to help the localities devastate by the sweeping wild fires. as you mentioned, the president he will see firsthand torched neighborhoods and damage left behind by the flames which are blazing. the colorado horizon is engulfed in flames. families are fleeing their homes. sometimes with nowhere to go. hotel rooms are hard to come by. >> we sat in the parking lot in castle rock homeless for hours trying to figure out what to do. >> reporter: she and her family were taken in by strangers one of the many acts of kindness during a terrifying time in colorado springs. the waldo canyon fire has 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. >> this is a fire storm of epic proportions. >> reporter: relief arrived thursday in the form of calmer winds and slightly cooler temperatures. more of the same is in the forecast for friday. for some 180,000 plus acres of charred land, burn

cnn's sandra endo is live in colorado springs. sandra, you've been out there all day seeing what's happening. you've been on top of this story. any progress being made that you can tell us about? >> yes, poppy. the good news is that authorities say there is now 30% containment of the waldo canyon fire. that's double the size of containment from yesterday and there is a lot of activity, a lot of work to do. we're right near the base where helicopters have been launching, scooping up fire retardant, scooping up water to combat those flames from an aerial tactic. so certainly they are very busy trying to really tamp down those flames. from our vantage point, take a look at the mountain ridge behind me. yesterday we saw plumes of smoke rising from that mountain side. today we can see the progress for ourselves. for our own eyes here you can take a look. that is what you're looking at. just small, smoldering hot spots today so certainly we're seeing a lot of progress on this end. of course we're not getting the overall view but again au

sandra endo is in colorado springs with an update on the firefighting effort making any progress sandra>> reporter: they are hoping so and the effort to combat this amazing sweeping wild fire here in colorado is underway at this hour. the heeli base is active and helicopterrers are swooping down getting fire retardant and watter to combat the plays. the president released federal funds to the localities that have been affected and devastated by the wild fires. and he will see firsthand torched neighborhoods and the damage left behind by the flames which are still blazing. the colorado horizon is engulfed in flames. families are fleeing their homes. sometimes with nowhere 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. >> reporter: she and her family were taken by strangers. just one of the many acts of kindness during a terrifying time in colorado springs. the ferocious waldo canyon fire claimed nearly 350 homes. and in. entire neighborhoods are wiped out. the u.s. forest service fears it could be mid-

. >> sandra endo reporting live from colorado springs, thank you. >>> time now 6:39. back here at home this is getaway day for a lot of people. aaa says five million people hit the i prothey will tack the rest will go bereasons, butts, and boats. >>> sal, how is traffic today? >> it looks pretty good so far. getting into the city it's not as bad as the pictures we showed you. let's take a look at what we have in san jose. starting off in the south bay. also the morning commute looks good on the pips la. highway 101 no problems. no problems on the dumbarton bridge. interstate 880 in hayward looks good. live picture showing you a look at highway 4. a little bit more slow trafficking coming up out of antioch. let's go to steve. >>> sal, thank you. sunshine for some. there is a lot of low clouds. in fact, there is a big fog bank out of there today. it has come roaring back. rom thompson said he had another tenth of an inch of rain. the hills are still green up there. i believe that. they've had a lot of rain up there. for us the end result is an increase in the fog. also

sandra endo joining us from colorado. what are you seeing, sandra? the good news is there is a bit of containment right now. there's a little progress being made from the firefighters there, right? >> reporter: that's right, poppy. you've been talking about the heat wave affecting the east coast. luckily, the weather and the temperatures are helping in an effort to combat the wildfire. we're at the air force academy where we were for a couple of days. this was in the danger zone and luckily all of those warnings have been lifted and what a remarkable difference a day makes because just from this vantage point, you can see a couple of hot spots still smolderring, but just yesterday we saw plumes of smoke rising from that mountaintop. so, clearly, a lot of progress has been made. officials are saying now this waldo canyon fire is in containment at 30% which is double the progress they've made overnight and they're still saying there's a lot of work to be done and they've lifted evacuation orders and there have been two deaths presumably, as you mention

sandra endo, cnn, washington. >>> you met richard deaner there in the piece.ll join me next hour to talk more about the struggles of finding work and dealing with the loss of unemployment benefits. >>> a different kind of relationship baggage. a woman arrested for trying to get a secret tryst in this big pink roller bag. yeah, she's in trouble. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, a

to colorado springs, colorado and nearly 250 homes destroyed and the flames keep spreading and sandra endo is live in colorado springs. there is a silver lining, one first bright spot to this today and that could be summed up in the word containment. . >> reporter: that's right. the authorities announced that the waldo canyon fire is 30% contained and that's double the progress they've made just overnight and we're very close to the helibase, the area where they're launching the helicopters they're using to combat this wildfire. take a look at this vantage point from with we're standing. you can so the ridge line of the mountain and you can see some of the hot spots where the smoke is smolderring and, you know, it's quite a different scene from yesterday because we were here at the same position and we can see smoke, plumes of smoke billowing from the same mountain ridge and clearly, some progress has been made and you can see it just from this vantage point and authorities and firefighters still have a lot of work to do and as you mentioned the destruction and the toll this wildfire has t

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