‘We lost everything’: Colorado wildfire destroys hundreds of homes

The fire destroyed at least 500 structures, mostly homes, and more than 30,000 people fled or were evacuated

Just as the flakes of the season's first winter storm began to fall in the Colorado foothills, Heather Diiorio, 67, and her husband walked hand in hand in a daze down South 68th Street in Louisville, a community often ranked as one of America's most livable small towns. They had just gone to inspect their home after one of Colorado's most destructive fires in history struck this week.

All I can say is we lived there 35 years and we lost everything," said Diioro's husband before emotion overwhelmed him. He declined to give his first name. He and his wife embraced neighbors, some of whom had also lost their homes in Thursday's fires, and others who had not.