Colorado wildfires rage out of control - in pictures

US president Barack Obama talks with firefighters as he tours the Mountain Shadow area of Colorado Springs. Colorado will receive federal funding to help the cost of firefighting Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Obama got a firsthand view of the wildfires and their toll on residential communities after declaring a 'major disaster' in the state Photograph: Joe Amon/AP

The Nebraska National Guard dumps buckets of water to douse flames from a Blackhawk helicopter near Fort Collins. There are several wildfires burning across the west, including eight in Utah and a fast-growing blaze in Montana Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features

A helicopter flies over the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

The Waldo Canyon fire burns an entire neighborhood near the foothills of Colorado Springs. Colorado has endured nearly a week of 100-plus-degree days and low humidity creating a devastating formula for volatile wildfires across the state Photograph: Helen H Richardson/AP

Around 32,000 people have been evacuated from the path of the fire, which is devastating the area Photograph: Galon Wampler/AP

Smoke from the Waldo Canyon fire engulfs the highway north of Colorado Springs as people are forced to flee their homes Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

The wildfire, raging near some of the area's most visited tourist areas in the state, took a turn for the worse as hot winds pushed flames north, officials said Photograph: Reuters

Karen Bodine and her husband, Greg, right, help her father, Duane Schormann, load his animals into the trailer as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns toward Cascade, Colorado, and the family home she grew up in Photograph: Keystone USA-ZUMA/Rex Features

Christina Morris, from Colorado Springs, watches the wildfire burn nearby as she began to prepare her family for evacuation Photograph: Jerilee Bennett/AP

A firefighter works at the site of a home being consumed by flames in Estes Park, Colorado Photograph: Darrell Spangler/AP

People watch a giant smoke plume rising from the Waldo Canyon Fire during sunset. The wildfire has threatened popular summer camping grounds beneath Pikes Peak, one of the most visited mountains in the country Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

A firefighting helicopter flies above the Flagstaff fire west of Boulder. There have been eight separate wildfires burning across Colorado Photograph: Jeremy Papasso/AP

Angela Morgan and Jan Stone deal with the effect of smoke rising over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Cascade Photograph: Keystone USA-ZUMA/Rex Features

A tanker drops fire retardant while fighting the Flagstaff wildfire in Boulder Photograph: Jeremy Papasso/AP

Bobbie Mesmer, daughter of Gary and Linda Blomenkamp, surveys her parents' house that has burned to the ground in the Last Chance Fire in Woodrow, Colorado Photograph: Andy Cross/AP

A helicopter drops water on the Waldo Canyon fire burning behind the US air force academy, west of Colorado Springs Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

A large plume of smoke rises from the Waldo Canyon fire. The fire, fanned by gusting winds, has gutted an unknown number of homes on the wooded fringes of Colorado's second-biggest city and prompted more evacuations as flames roared out of control for a fifth day Photograph: Reuters

The devastation left by the wildfire in Colorado Springs. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed Photograph: John Wark/AP

An aerial view shows homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs. Firefighters struggled to beat back a fiercely aggressive wildfire raging at the edge of Colorado Springs that has forced at least 35,000 people from their homes Photograph: Reuters