There was good news from the northeast side of the Hayman Fire Thursday afternoon as officials said they were easing the voluntary evacuation advisory for the areas from Perry Park, north to Roxborough Village.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said that it was advising residents not to bring back livestock and pets because the fire is still unpredictable.

Officials from the northern command post said Thursday that the Hayman Fire is still active and containment could take until the end of summer.

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

The fire, which moved 1 mile further south and east on Wednesday, was most active Thursday on the southern edges, said Kathy Hardy of the U.S. Forest Service.

Depending on how far the wind pushes the flames, residents in Park and Teller counties could be forced to evacuate, she said.

Community meetings will be held tonight for those directly affected by fires. Each briefing location is specifically geared to address the needs of local residents in that particular community.

Southern neighborhoods:

Lake George Elementary School, 5 p.m.

Woodland Park High School, 7:30 p.m.
Northern neighborhoods:

Douglas County residents -- Castle Rock Middle School, 7 p.m.

Jefferson County residents -- Chatfield High School, 7 p.m.

Officials told some evacuees last night that it could take up to three months to get the fire fully contained.

"Containment is 70 to 90 days out," a fire information officer at the Lake George community meeting said. "I'm telling you folks, this fire is like 20 miles long and 14 miles wide."

Hardy said fire crews can only contain the fire, and "only Mother Nature can put it out."

What is needed is a downpour, but unfortunately, that's not in the forecast for this week, according to 7NEWS Meteorologist Pam Daale.

Temperatures will remain cooler on Thursday, and winds will be stiff but consistent, Daale said.

One neighborhood in Lake George was placed on an evacuation alert Wednesday evening. The homes affected were from Lake George east to the county line and north of Highway 24. The southern edge of the Hayman Fire is reportedly only 1 mile away from this area, 7NEWS reported.

Structures Burn

Aitracker7 pilot Rich Westra was finally able to get in and see the fire damage around the Deckers area Thursday. Deckers was "in the green" he said, although the Wild Horse Saloon and Campground south of Deckers was destroyed in the fire.

Farther south, Westra found that the fire missed the Westcreek area and all of the buildings he could see there were still standing.

To the north of Deckers, Trumbull appeared unscathed, as did the Wigwam Fishing Resort to the west of Deckers.

A home and several outbuildings were destroyed in the fire on the west side of Highway 126 as it turns north from the Deckers area.

According to Westra, the fire was about 2 miles off Forest Road 550, which is the "trigger point" for evacuating areas north of Pine, to Highway 285.

A Teller County spokeswoman said officials were able to walk through some of the charred landscape in their county on Wednesday and counted 22 homes burned in the Lutheran Valley subdivision near Lake George. A U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman earlier misidentified the affected subdivision as Turkey Rock.

At one point, officials said that as many as 51 homes had burned but then rescinded that statement, saying that they could only confirm 22 burned structures.

Firefighters believe that there could be much more damage to homes and businesses, but could not specify how many and where, because they are unable to get into the area.

Officials on Wednesday also found 30 dead cows near the Lost Valley Guest Ranch. But they also saved 150 horses in the area.

More than 5,400 people remain out of their homes.

Forest Service officials said three cars were found intact at Goose Creek Trailhead. Two had keys and were driven to Lake George Work Center. The owners are being contacted with instructions on how to retrieve them.

Firefighters Slowly Working On Containment

The focus for the hundreds of firefighters on the front lines Thursday is protecting structures at the perimeter of fire, Hardy said. They are working to build a containment line by digging trenches and lighting backfires.

The lines that have been built so far are holding well and containment is still at 5 percent.

There are 500 firefighters at the Northern Command Center in the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 930 at the scene, and a total of 2,000 expected to be battling the fire at the end of the week.

Because the fire was designated as a No. 1 priority by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it has helped get more firefighters in from around the country, Hardy said.

Until now, officials had primarily been relying on local volunteer fire departments.

Hardy said a prescribed burn done a couple of months ago, at the northwest edge of the fire has really helped slow down the fire on that side. No firefighters are on this edge of fire because there are fewer trees, meaning that there is less fuel. They are monitoring this area, but are not staffing it, she said.

The wind-driven fire, burning in the Pike National Forest, is the largest in the state's recorded 126-year history. It is burning in bone-dry trees and brush, a result of Colorado's current record drought.

What's making the fire so tough to fight is it is burning in rocky terrain, and its smoke plumes are so large and so high -- at times surpassing 20,000 feet -- that slurry bombers are unable to see the edges of the fire.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth will fly in and take a tour of the fire this afternoon.

Several organizations have criticized the Forest Service for not thinning out the forest earlier, which they argue could have prevented such a disaster.

The Hayman Fire was named for the "Hayman" site near Tappan Gulch, at the fire's origin.

Investigators Looking For Person Who Started Fire

The search for whoever started the fire could take investigators all over the country.

Dale McCormick of the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain region told the Associated Press that investigators wanted to question people who were in the forest over the weekend to find out if they noticed anything unusual. The popular recreation area attracts visitors from across the United States.

Officials said they have traced the origin of the blaze to an illegal campfire near Forest Service Road 290, about 6 miles northwest of Lake George in Park County.

Investigators reached the driver of a gold minivan who was spotted by a forest ranger leaving the area when the fire started Saturday afternoon.

Fire officials interviewed him and have, at this time, ruled him out as the person who started the fire, 7NEWS reported.

They said he was just a concerned citizen, who was staying at a private cabin nearby when he saw smoke and came to look. He called 911 to report the fire at about 4 p.m. and then left.

But, investigators said they are still analyzing evidence from the scene and have not determined whether the fire was started intentionally or accidentally.

Denver Crime Stoppers offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who started the blaze. If you have information, you are asked to call (720) 913-7867.