Thanks to a growing containment line on the northern perimeter and a front that appears to be slowing down, Douglas County and Jefferson County lifted its evacuation orders for the northernmost subdivisions and allowed thousands to return home Thursday night.

For Jefferson County, the evacuation order was lifted for residents living in Buffalo Creek, Buffalo Creek Park, Christmas Hill, Cliffdale, Crossons, Crystal Lake, Dome Rock, Ferndale, Foxton, Indian Springs Village, Mountain Valley Acres, Pine, Pine Grove, Pine Valley North, Riverview, South Platte, Sphinx Lodge, Sphinx Park, and Longview.

Jefferson County residents were allowed back home after 7 p.m. and were required to show identification. Large animals, however, cannot return just yet and residents were warned that they could be called to re-evacuate if the fire jumps Forest Service Road 550.

Douglas County residents living in Moon Ridge, Sprucewood, Pine Creek Road, Night Hawk, Sugar Creek Road and Scraggy were allowed back home after 8 p.m. They will be placed on "stand-by alert" status and should still prepare for possible evacuation, Douglas County officials said.

But one group of people who don't have to worry about any evacuation in the near future are those who were previously on "standby alert."

Those areas include Sedalia, Indian Creek Ranch, Roxborough Park, and Roxborough Village.

Number Of Structures Burned Up To 95

Officials at the Northern Command Center said this morning that county deputies were able to walk within the Hayman Fire perimeter and confirmed that 95 structures have been lost so far.

"Many of those are outbuildings but of course, some of them are homes," said fire information officer Bobby Kitchens.

For nearly the past week and a half, Forest Service officials maintained that only 25 homes have been destroyed because they couldn't make an accurate assessment without walking into a potentially dangerous fire zone.

"We knew that number was going to go up," Kitchens said.

Before releasing the official tally, the individual sheriff's departments notified each of the homeowners.

Douglas County deputies said that approximately 24 homes within their jurisdiction were destroyed Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Seven of those homes were in West Creek, five homes were in Thunder Butte, six homes were in Trout Creek Ranch, three homes were in Bell Rock and three others were along Highway 67.

Teller County Sheriff Frank Fehn said that 46 homes have been lost in Teller County -- 29 of them in the Turkey Rock subdivision. At the community meeting at Woodland Park High School, officials pulled some residents aside to inform them privately that their homes had been destroyed. The homes that were lost were along Painted Rocks Road and in the Turkey Rock and Lost Valley Ranch subdivisions.

Since the state was declared a federal disaster area yesterday, these homeowners can get federal funding to help them repair or rebuild their homes.

No lives have been lost.

About than 8,900 people are currently under mandatory evacuation orders, 7NEWS reported.

HAYMAN FIRE INTERACTIVE VIDEO: Heavy Fire Near Signal Butte 6/18 VIDEO: Over Turkey Rock 6/17 VIDEO: Burned Homes In Douglas County DISCUSSION: How Can Wildfires Be Prevented? SURVEY: Forest Service Liable? SURVEY: Should State's Forests Be Closed? SLIDESHOW: Hayman Fire Explodes 6/18 SLIDESHOW: Deckers Area Fire Tour (Thursday) SLIDESHOW: Working The Fire SLIDESHOW: Dramatic Pictures SLIDESHOW: From Viewers MULTIMEDIA: Causes And Protections SIZE Subdivisions In Zone Perimeter Map At 137,000 Acres Early Fire Growth Early Satellite Image Large Satellite Enhanced Color Satellite With Landmarks EVACUATION Neighborhoods Affected Tips Pets, Large Animals INFO Get Federal Funds How You Can Help Open Fires Banned Penalties Fireworks Shows On? Forest Closure Wildfire Terminology Smell Smoke? Effect On Wildlife RESOURCES Hayman Fire Incident Page Douglas County Jefferson County Teller County National Incident Report Fire Bans

Hoping To Gain Upper Hand

With last night's rain, and today's cooler temperatures and higher humidities, firefighters hope to get back on the offensive and gain the upper hand before weekend temperatures -- forecast to be in the high 90s -- causes the fire to flare up again.

Thunderstorms that pounded the Front Range last night didn't drench the fire zone, but it did keep it from spreading much more.

Before the rain came in, the winds blew in, and as they have done a handful of times before, firefighters on the front line near Lake George had to run for their lives when the winds shifted and blew the fire toward them.

The most active flank of the fire is still the southeastern section -- which is about 6 miles away from Woodland Park.

The fire moved into Trail Creek and Indian Creek yesterday but firefighters were successful at protecting homes, 7NEWS reported.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office reported that the fire is not an imminent threat to the Tri-Lakes / Monument area. The fire line is just west of Highway 67, which is approximately 12 1/4 miles from Monument and approximately 3 miles west of the county line.

Mandatory evacuations for the Tri-Lakes / Monument area will be ordered if the fire reaches the trigger point of Rampart Range Road, which is adjacent to the county line.

Because the threat appears to have diminished for now, El Paso County residents along Rampart Range Road -- from the Douglas County line south to Eagle Lake -- were allowed to return home Thursday morning.

The total number of acres burned is holding at 136,000 with the fire 40 percent contained.

The fire's become so large that a third command post has been set up southeast of the fire, to help coordinate the 2,228 firefighters battling the blaze.

A third Type I one team will cover the area south of the Douglas County line and east of Highway 67. They are set up at Green Mountain Falls.

So far, the cost to battle the Hayman Fire is about $15 million.

The blaze, burning in Park, Jefferson, Douglas and Teller counties, is now more than five times the size of the largest wildfire in Colorado up till now.

The old record was the Lime Creek burn near Silverton in June of 1879. It burned about 26,000 acres.

The largest recorded fire in the history of the United States was a wildfire called the "Big Blowup" in August of 1910. It burned about 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Washington state.