A firefighter works a burnout operation on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney, Wyoming, on Wednesday, July 4. More than 800 firefighters are working 15-hour shifts battling the fire that has exceeded 56,000 acres, according to fire information services.
Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN) -- For over a week, officials related grim news on top of grim news about the fast-moving wildfire ravaging Colorado Springs, Colorado -- two dead, 346 homes lost, 32,000 forced evacuations, all as crews fought gamely in the face of whipping winds and horrific heat.
Until Sunday, that is.
"We've had a great day," city official Steve Cox said in an afternoon press conference. "We're going to open up many areas back to the citizens."
Fire authorities reported Sunday evening that the blaze, which so far burned over 17,600 acres -- close to 27 square miles -- was 55% contained. That represented a significant improvement from even a few hours earlier, when the fire was 45% contained.
This progress is consistent with officials' optimistic comments on Sunday, as they chronicled the latest in the fight to corral the deadly and still dangerous fire.
The most positive such development was the decision was to let thousands of people who had been ordered to evacuate back into their homes, beginning at 8 p.m. MT (10 p.m. ET) Sunday.
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Some 3,000 still can't get back in, though Colorado Springs emergency management director Brett Waters noted that figure is 10% of the tally at the fire's peak.
"We'd ask that (residents return) in an orderly fashion," Cox 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."
Jerry Forte, the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, seconded the city official's comment in calling Sunday "a good day -- and it's the start of some more good days, we hope."
All electricity has been restored in the areas where evacuees will be allowed back in, Forte said. Dozens of technicians will hit those areas Monday, to "relight pilot lights, turn on gas and make sure everything is safe within your homes," according to the utility executive.
Yet the signs of progress don't change the utter devastation experienced by scores of families, who saw their lives turned upside down by the blaze.
Some returned Sunday, temporarily, to neighborhoods charred in recent days.
Among them was Susan Solich, who is caring for her four young grandsons, whose parents both died in the past year. She drove onto the street 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 afternoon. "My home was gone, it was imploded into the ground."
Sallie Clark, El Paso County commissioner, said several organizations have come together to help those affected rebuild their lives, including assembling records.
As for Solich, she said her family won't leave Colorado but they're not necessarily putting down roots again in Colorado Springs, either. Their focus for now is taking care of the children and making it through each day, as best they can.
"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."
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Authorities still haven't determined what caused the fire, which state officials have called the worst in Colorado history.
Firefighters are being aided by helicopters, air tankers and military planes dropping water and retardant.
The positive news announced Sunday was a sharp turn from what officials told CNN hours earlier, indicating that conditions could be the worst since Tuesday, when the fire exploded and began spreading quickly.
The perimeter has "been staying pretty stable," said Rich Harvey, incident commander for the fire. But the fire was continuing to move in some places along the inside, he said.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey said 24 burglaries of homes and cars have been confirmed in the area affected by the fire.
Linda Burton, who had evacuated her suburban home because of the fire, returned to find it 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 on Saturday. "I feel like I have been hit by a train."
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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.
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.
As much as the monetary cost, the blaze has also taken a major emotional toll.
Ted and Kate Stefani returned Sunday to what had once been their home. Video they shot, and shared with CNN, showed no structure left to speak of -- just a big hole in the ground where their home once stood, except for one stray column from near their front door plus a charred seat from which they'd first spotted flames in the distance.
Yet they, like Solich, said the support of others -- from neighbors to the Red Cross to local, state and national officials, including President Barack Obama, who visited last week -- have helped them get through the crisis.
"It just still smells like smoke, it's just pretty sad," Kate Stefani said. "But the good thing is we have a lot of neighbors whose houses didn't burn, and they have been out here giving hugs."
Added her husband Ted, "We're going to rebuild there. We love that block, we just love that community ... And it's our home."
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CNN's Josh Levs, Martin Savidge, Rob Marciano, Chelsea Carter and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.
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Trees smolder and burn on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire. The crews are working and sleeping close to the fire in an effort to contain it.
Firefighter Ryan Christian sits with his crew from Alaska before heading out to fight the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. The blaze, burning in dead and thick stands of timber, started on June 24 and is 15% contained.
Firefighter Alex Abols monitors fire on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. Record fire danger and long stretches of the red flag warning days have made it challenging to control.
A utilities worker walks past the skeleton of a vehicle on Monday, July 2, while searching for gas leaks in a Colorado Springs community ravaged by the Waldo Canyon Fire.
An American flag waves Monday in front of a house leveled by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Residents began returnning to the area on Sunday after the fire forced thousands of people from their homes.
The words "We Will Rebuild" are seen written on the sidewalk in front of a house in Colorado Springs that was destroyed by the fire.
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 Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at 
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.
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