Fire-destroyed homes are seen in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, where hundreds of residents were given an eight-hour window to visit their properties on Sunday, July 1.
A jogger on Sunday looks out over neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 32,000 people to flee.
Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home in Bellvue, Colorado, on Saturday, June 30. The house was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire.
Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire are seen from the air in a Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.
Damaged cars line the curb in front of ruined houses in Colorado Springs.
The line of fire damage is clearly visible in this Colorado Springs neighborhood.
Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.
One home stands surrounded by others destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
Homes burned to the ground by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
The fire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, began spreading to the southwestern corner of the Air Force Academy in the early morning, causing base officials to evacuate residents.
President Barack Obama tours fire damage with elected officials and firefighters in the Mountain Shadows residential neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Friday.
Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday.
A house is engulfed in flames as fire crews fight to contain it at the Rose Crest fire in Herriman, Utah, on Friday, June 29. Crews are fighting to contain six separate blazes in the state.
A pig is evacuated in a wheelbarrow from the Ching Family Animal Refuge in Herriman, Utah, as the wildfires worsen on Friday.
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 Denver Post." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0020" width="640"/>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 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 June 24.
The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of June 23, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.
The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 19.
Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on 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, June 19.
A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26
A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26. 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, June 23.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
- Authorities lift evacuation orders for all but 3,000 people in Colorado Springs
- The Waldo Canyon Fire is 55% contained, fire officials say
- The fire has scorched more than 17,800 acres since it began more than a week ago
- The cause of the fire is under investigation
Are wildfires blazing near you? Share photos and videos with iReport, but please stay safe.
Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN) -- As firefighters gained the upper hand Monday on a fast-moving wildfire in Colorado Springs, many residents began the process of picking up lives interrupted by an inferno that killed two people, destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more.
Evacuation orders for all except the hardest hit areas were
lifted by late Sunday for most of the 32,000 residents who were forced from their homes after winds last week whipped the blaze that has been described as the most destructive in state history.
"Now we're beginning to look at how do we rebuild and begin the recovery," Gov. John Hickenlooper said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
"But we also know that Mother Nature can be pretty fickle out there, so we're keeping ourselves very alert."
With the so-called Waldo Canyon Fire contained at 55% early Monday, according to the
multistate fire response website InciWeb, authorities are turning their attention to what caused the blaze that chewed through more than 17,800 acres.
The FBI has joined agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as local authorities to investigate the cause of the fire that began in the early afternoon of June 23 in the Pike National Forest, about three miles west of Colorado Springs.
Federal agents joined the investigation after reports emerged that the wildfire, which has cost more than $11 million to date to fight, was possibly started by an arsonist.
With most of the evacuation orders lifted, a steady stream of motorists made their way on ash-covered roads to their homes late Sunday.
"We'd ask that (residents return) in an orderly fashion," Steve Cox, the assistant to the Colorado Springs mayor, said.
"Our strategy will be that we continue to shrink that focus area down and down, and get people back in their homes as soon as we can."
But roughly 3,000 people were still under mandatory evacuation orders, including hundreds whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the fire.
A
map released by Colorado Springs officials showed the fire's fury as it hopscotched through neighborhoods, burning some houses, damaging others and, inexplicably, skipping over some.
Lists of addresses put out by local officials spelled out the toll with simple descriptions: "No Visible Damage," "Visible Damage" and "Total Loss."
On streets with names that reflect the city's serene surroundings -- Majestic Drive and Mirror Lake Court -- the toll was unimaginable with nearly every house damaged or destroyed.
Some returned Sunday, temporarily, to these streets to survey the damage.
Among them was Susan Solich, who is caring for her four young grandsons after their parents died last year.
She drove onto the street in the Mountain Shadows area where she'd lived for 18 years to find some trees and homes still standing -- but not hers.
"I've seen pictures, but it didn't really impact me the way it did, turning into my driveway," Solich told CNN on Sunday.
"My home was gone, it was imploded into the ground."
Sallie Clark, El Paso County commissioner, said several organizations are working together to help those rebuild their lives, including assembling records.
Solich said her family won't leave Colorado but they're not necessarily putting down roots again in Colorado Springs, either. Her focus for now is taking care of the children and making it through each day.
"It won't be quite the same. It's kind of like the twilight zone," she said. "So many of our friends are gone, and they won't be back."
Ted and Kate Stefani, meanwhile, vowed to return -- and rebuild.
Video they shot showed a giant hole where their home once stood. All that remained was one stray column from near their front door plus a charred seat from which they'd first spotted flames in the distance.
"We're going to rebuild there. We love that block, we just love that community ... And it's our home," said Ted Stefani.
The wildfire is one of 11 active blazes in Colorado. Other Western states -- including Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah -- also are battling wildfires, which is straining regional and national firefighting resources.
The U.S. Forest Service has warned it could be mid-July before the Waldo Canyon Fire is fully under control.
CNN's Martin Savidge, Chelsea J. Carter and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
