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- The so-called Waldo Canyon Fire continues to threaten thousands of homes
- The fire, which has burned 17,600 acres, is 45 percent contained, fire officials say
- Police are warning evacuees to be on the lookout for burglars as they return home
- Bus tours begin Sunday for residents wanting to see their homes and neighborhoods
Are wildfires blazing near you? Share photos and videos with iReport, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- Hundreds displaced by a fast-moving wildfire outside Colorado Springs, Colorado, will get their first look Sunday at what remains of their homes when authorities begin bus tours of burned out neighborhoods.
Authorities were still tallying the toll over the weekend from what state officials described as the worst fire in the state's history, though preliminary estimates by fire officials put the devastation at nearly 350 homes destroyed and more than two dozen damaged. Two people were killed and two were wounded in the fire, authorities said.
By early Sunday morning, firefighters contained 45% of the so-called Waldo Canyon fire, which has scorched more than 17,600 acres -- close to 27 square miles -- since it began June 23.
Firefighters, aided by helicopters, air tankers and military planes dropping water and retardant, fought to contain the inferno that early Sunday was still threatening 15,000 homes and 140 businesses, according to InciWeb, a multi-agency fire response website.
Crews were working through the early morning hours, fighting spot fires that could flare up and make a run at threatened communities.
"If we can get in and clean things up tonight, it will really help," said Kim Soeper, a fire chief overseeing night firefighting operations, Saturday night.
The city has organized the tours, which will continue through Monday, for about 4,000 people in neighborhoods that were either damaged or destroyed by the wildfire.
"You'll be able to look at your property," Steve Cox, assistant to the Colorado Springs mayor, told reporters over the weekend. "You're not going to be able to get out and walk around the property because we're still in an active fire situation."
The fire forced the evacuation of more than 36,000 people, most on Tuesday when strong winds whipped the blaze into a firestorm that spewed ash and smoke.
Many have since been allowed to return. Authorities are no longer keeping track of how many people are still evacuated, said Anne Rys-Sikora, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.
But thousands early Sunday were still waiting for word when they would be able to go home.
Among those who no longer have a home is Nicole Frye. She learned her house was among those destroyed when the wildfire roared down the mountain into the western subdivisions of Colorado Springs.
Frye has not returned yet but has seen the devastation in aerial photographs.
Authorities warned Saturday that those returning home should be on the lookout for wild animals, including bears, driven into communities by the wildfire.
They also warned residents to be on the lookout for possible burglars targeting houses vacated by mandatory evacuations.
More than 150 National Guard soldiers were deployed to Colorado Springs to back up police, who are investigating nearly two dozen burglaries or attempted burglaries in the evacuation zones.
Linda Burton evacuated her suburban home because of the advancing wildfire only to return to find out her house was burglarized.
"It's almost as bad as the house being burned down because you feel violated that there are people out there that prey upon victims that are already suffering," Burton told CNN affiliate KKTV.
"I feel like I have been hit by a train."
But there are signs of progress in Colorado Springs, says Cody Muth, a graduate student at the University of Colorado.
"It's still a little strange," said Muth, who days earlier helped a friend flee the firestorm.
Stores and gas stations, he said, have begun to reopen. The heavy smoke that blanketed portion of the city for days has also begun to lift.
But still, he says, people are wary.
"It's just kind of hard to cope with. Your city was on fire, and every day you see a new plume of smoke in the distance," he said.
"That's how all of this started, a plume of smoke in the distance."
Authorities put the cost of fighting the fire at $8.8 million by Saturday night. The U.S. Forest Service has warned it could be mid-July before the Waldo Canyon Fire is fully under control.
The wildfire is one of 11 active fires in Colorado. Other Western states -- including Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah -- also are battling wildfires, which is straining firefighting resources.
President Barack Obama declared Colorado a disaster area to allow federal dollars to help fight the Waldo Canyon Fire as well the High Park Fire, which burned 87,284 acres and destroyed nearly 260 homes in northern Colorado since it began on June 9.
As of Saturday night, that fire was 100% contained and all evacuation orders were lifted. Firefighters will continue mopping up hotspots along the perimeter of the fire, which has cost more than $38 million to date.
CNN's Melissa Gray contributed to this report.
