Offering hugs and humor, President Joe Biden comforted Coloradans grappling with rebuilding homes and businesses destroyed last week by a rare wind-whipped, winter fire, known as the Marshall Fire, that burned through a pair of heavily populated suburbs between Denver and Boulder.
One victim was identified Friday and one person remained unaccounted for out of some 35,000 forced from their homes.
Biden, and his wife, Jill, arrived in the Harper Lake neighborhood of Louisville on Friday afternoon to survey the damage, passing the scorched remnants of homes next to damaged structures still standing. They walked along a street where homes burned to their concrete foundations, meeting residents and local officials who have been overseeing the response and recovery.