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Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A wind-fueled wildfire in Colorado, which has forced hundreds to evacuate, was more than half contained as of Tuesday evening, according to authorities who said they were hopeful some residents could soon return to their homes. The Highland Lakes Fire ignited Monday near Divide in Teller County, about 26 miles northwest of Colorado Springs. Authorities said it began as a structure fire that devolved into a brush fire.
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Investigations with "an eye towards criminal charges" are underway, the Teller County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Close to 700 homes, valued at more than $300 million, have been evacuated, but Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell told reporters during a final Tuesday evening press conference that pre-evacuations for Aspen Valley, Broken Wheel and Highland Lakes have been canceled based on progress in containing the blaze. An additional 650 homes were under the pre-evacuation orders
On Tuesday morning, the fire -- covering 166 acres -- was only 15% contained. By 4:30 p.m. local time, firefighters had improved containment to 60%. Mikesell said they hope some evacuated residents could return to their homes starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
"I say hope because we still have a fire to contend with," he said.
"We really have to make people understand there's still fire behavior. Some things that are kicking up in areas we're concerned about but we do feel comfortable enough that we think that we can gradually have people go back into those mandated areas that we have for evacuations."
The main concerns, he said, are wind and a lack of moisture, which have been fueling the blaze.
"I will tell you that's one of my biggest concerns is just watching out there on the fire lines just the amount of wind that's whipping through those canyons and those draws that's really pushing fire behavior and to know it's keeping that fire alive," he said.
So far, only the one structure has been damaged, and no injuries have been reported.
