Thomas Peipert

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A pair of U.S. Defense Department cargo planes was mobilized Wednesday to help battle wildfires in Colorado and elsewhere in the West as crews surveyed the damage from a large blaze burning near Colorado Springs that already has destroyed dozens of homes.

WINTER PARK, Colo. — Taking a deep breath, Wally Mozdzierz points his skis down the icy slope and leans forward. He hears the snow crunch and feels the contours change beneath him as he glides swiftly down the mountain, his guide following close behind.

The run is exhilarating and adrenaline pumping — common sensations for anyone on the slopes. But for Mozdzierz, it’s different. He’s totally blind.

“Slight right. Good. Good. Sharp left. Good. Good. Shallow right,” the guide barks as Mozdzierz navigates the bumpy run at Winter Park, home to the National Sports Center for the Disabled.

LITTLETON, Colo. — A lone police cruiser outside Columbine High School was the only outward reaction Friday to an even deadlier attack at a Connecticut elementary school.

AURORA, Colo. — A gunman wearing a gas mask and black SWAT gear hurled a gas canister inside a crowded movie theater during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday and then opened fire, killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60 others in an attack so bizarre that some moviegoers at first thought they were watching Hollywood special effects.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — After waiting for two days, Rebekah and Byron Largent learned from lists distributed by authorities that their home was among the hundreds that burned to the ground in the most destructive wildfire ever to rage across Colorado.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Tens of thousands of Colorado Springs residents forced from their homes by a raging wildfire took refuge with friends or family and crammed into hotels and shelters as Army troops helped firefighters protect the U.S. Air Force Academy from encroaching flames.

DENVER — More residents were out of their homes Monday as fire crews face another day of powerful winds fueling a wildfire that has charred about 90 square miles of forested mountains in northern Colorado.