Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday, June 29, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 36,000 people to flee. 
Melissa Bowman, a CNN iReporter from Big Piney, Wyoming, captures the Fontenelle Fire close to her home as she waits for an evacuation notice. 
A camp for firefighters is set up at Holmes Middle School in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 28. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres. 
A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs. 
The line where the Waldo Canyon Fire stopped moving east is seen from the air in Colorado Springs. Lower temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters on Thursday in the battle against the fire. 
An aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs. 
The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at The Denver Post. 
Hazy smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire looms behind the Air Force Academy stadium on Wednesday, June 27, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire expanded to 15,000 acres. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated. 
Susan Custer and her husband, Gary Custer, watch the Waldo Canyon Fire on Wednesday. 
At dawn on Tuesday, firefighters stir from their tents at a camp near Holmes Middle School. 
Smoke billows from the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 
Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday. 
J'Amie Sirvaitis of Colorado Springs watches the Waldo Canyon Fire after winds pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 
Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday. 
Smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire engulfs Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the blaze burns out of control Tuesday. 
A large plume of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire fills the sky west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 
Jan Stone, right, comforts Angela Morgan as smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire pours over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 
A portion of the Waldo Canyon Fire moves across a hillside above a subdivision west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 
Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation personnel set up a roadblock west of Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Monday, June 25. 
A portion of the Waldo Canyon fire burns out of control in the hills west of Manitou Springs on Monday. 
Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sunday, June 24. 
Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area Sunday. 
The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of Saturday, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins. 
The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on Tuesday, June 19. 
Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on Tuesday, June 19. 
A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant on the blaze June 19. Its growth potential was "extreme," according to authorities. 
Flames scorched this area outside of Fort Collins where the High Park Fire has burned out. 
A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday. 
A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday. The Wood Hollow Fire, one of at least three wildfires burning in Utah, has grown to nearly 39,000 acres. 
Smoldering earth and damage from the Dump Fire, which began June 21, can be seen outside a plant near Saratoga Springs, Utah, on Saturday, June 23. 
Burned-out terrain from the Dump Fire fills a hillside near Saratoga Springs, Utah on Saturday. 
The smoke plume from a fire in the Los Padres National Forest, which began on June 16, billows into the sky. The fire burned more than 500 acres before it was contained. 
Firefighters watch as the wildfire spreads throught the Los Padres National Forest on June 16. Another fire in San Diego County has burned almost 1000 acres leading to 150 homes being evacuated. 
A helicopter makes a water drop on the wildfire in Los Padres National Forest on June 16. 
The Poco Fire from Rim Vista in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona ignited on June 14 and spread to 4,900 acres. 
An airplane drops retardant on the 257 Fire near Superior, Arizona, on June 14. The blaze was about 85% contained at a size of more than 2,800 acres. 
Firefighters battle the Little Bear Fire in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico on June 14. The Little Bear Fire had burned more than 40,000 acres and was still spreading. 
The Little Bear Fire spreads across a road in the Lincoln National Forest on June 13. 
Firefighters in New Mexico struggle on June 14 to contain the Little Bear blaze, which has destroyed more than 250 structures. 
This portion of landscape was charred by the Little Bear Fire in New Mexico on June 14. Are wildfires blazing near you? Share photos and videos with iReport here, but please stay safe. 
- A charred body was discovered inside a destroyed home in Colorado Springs, police say
- President Barack Obama issues a disaster declaration for Colorado
- He plans to visit areas affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire
- At least 346 homes have been destroyed; thousands of others remain under threat
(CNN) -- Friday brought sad news to Colorado Springs: A monster wildfire that raged nearby and came roaring down a mountain has turned deadly.
Authorities discovered a charred body in a house consumed by flames. One other person was missing.
In all, 346 homes have been ravaged and the threat still looms large. Another 20,000 homes and 160 businesses stand dangerously close to the blaze.
The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres and brought fear, anxiety and grief to Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city that was, until a few days ago, happily situated in the valley below picturesque Pike's Peak.
Colorado declared major disaster area 
Family sees home burning on front page 
High winds fueling Colorado wildfire 
Evacuee: Wildfire 20 feet from home But Friday also brought some relief.
The fire, raging since last weekend, had been growing steadily, fueled by hot, arid conditions and winds that gusted at 65 miles per hour. Thursday was the first day that firefighters felt they were winning the battle.
The winds had calmed to 10 miles per hour; the temperatures dropped to the 90s.
Incident commander Rich Harvey said fire crews made "really good progress."
He was happy to report that no additional structures were lost Thursday. There was no growth in the perimeter of the fire and it was now 15% contained.
There was relief, too, in knowing that President Barack Obama was on his way to Colorado to visit fire-affected areas. He was scheduled to arrive around noon, local time.
Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach, who has been present at media briefings, skipped talking to reporters Friday morning.
He attended an emotional meeting the evening before with residents wanting to know what had happened to their homes. And in the morning, he was gearing up for his meeting with the president, sorting out in his head what kind of federal aid he would ask for.
"I really appreciate the president coming here ... if nothing more than just to reassure us that this has a focus at a national level, that there are people all over this country who are concerned for our citizens and those who have lost their homes," Bach said.
"And I do plan to ask for cash," he added.
He had promised that his community would surround fire victims with love and encouragement; that they would move forward as a city.
Obama declared Colorado a disaster area to allow for the flow of federal dollars to help fight the Waldo Canyon Fire as well the High Park Fire, which has burned more than 87,000 acres in northern Colorado since it began on June 9.
In Colorado Springs, he planned to survey all that was lost.
Among the people whose lives are forever changed are Rebekah and Byron Largent.
They should have been celebrating their daughter Emma's first birthday Tuesday. Instead, they fled their home.
They took only what they could carry: a few toys, clothes.
"We thought we were coming back in a couple of days," Rebekah Largent said.
They clung to one another at Thursday's meeting as they got the dread confirmation on a piece of paper that listed the 346 houses on 34 different streets. Their rented house was burned to a pile of smoldering ash and rubble.
Gone are the wedding dress, the family photos and grandmother's china. Also gone is the rocking chair where the Largents took turns over the past year rocking Emma to sleep.
"We're not sure what we are going to do next," Rebekah Largent told CNN affiliate KKTV.
More than 36,000 people have fled their homes in Colorado Springs neighborhoods like Mountain Shadows and Preregrine.
Open Story: iReporters share their harrowing views of the wildfires
It was in Mountain Shadows where authorities late Thursday discovered a charred body inside one of the homes during a search for two people who were reported missing in the area.
Authorities made the discovery after a family had "inquired about the status of their loved ones," police spokeswoman Barbara Miller said.
Miller said it's possible that another body is at the destroyed home. Authorities were forced to suspend the search because it was too dark to continue, she said.
Carey declined to release further details or identify the missing, saying the case was under investigation.
Help for wildfire evacuees and first responders
Carey said fewer than 10 people had been reported missing and authorities were checking with evacuation centers and relatives to try to find them. They also planned a secondary search of the burned homes to make sure that no one else remained inside.
Authorities also announced the arrest of two people accused of burglarizing a home left vacant by the evacuation order.
Belinda Yates, 38, and Shane Garrett, 36, were being held on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft, possession of a controlled substance and other related charges, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said.
Meanwhile, the cause of the Waldo Canyon Fire remains unknown.
The Denver office of the FBI joined agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with local authorities, in investigating reports that an arsonist may be responsible.
It could be mid-July before the fire is fully under control, the U.S. Forest Service said.
New app tracks Colorado wildfires
CNN's Greg Morrison, Phil Gast and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
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