CNN iReporter Bryan Maltais of Fort Collins, Colorado, took this picture of the Colorado fire from the cliffs above Horsetooth Reservoir in Larimer County. He started documenting the situation on June 10. "Many people I know have been brought to tears for the people who have lost their homes, and for the destruction of so much forest," he said.
Editor's note: Have you been affected by the wildfires? Share your photos, video with CNN iReport.
(CNN) -- Hundreds of residents ordered out of their homes as a massive wildfire advanced on the suburbs of Fort Collins, Colorado, may be allowed to return Wednesday evening, fire officials said.
"We're gaining," said Bill Hahnenberg, the U.S. Forest Service's commander for the team battling the High Park wildfire, which has burned 46,600 acres in northern Colorado. The fire, which has claimed at least one life, is estimated to be 10% contained.
About 100 structures are confirmed lost, but hundreds of families are anxiously waiting to hear whether their homes survived.
"This fire's behavior is starting to diminish, at least in some places, where we can have trained individuals to go in and determine which structures are lost," Hahnenberg said during his Wednesday morning media briefing.
Conditions improve in Colorado fire
Struggling to contain Colorado wildfire
Hundreds of firefighters have arrived from around the United States to help local departments that have been battling the fire, bringing to 1,000 the number of personnel involved in the fight.
The local firefighters, some of whom have lost their own homes, are tired, Hahnenberg said. "We're doing our best and have enough resources on board to rotate in and relieve them."
They've had "some success, some failure" in containing the advance of flames eastward and southward, toward residential areas, he said.
Residents should be able to return to two evacuated neighborhoods later Wednesday and perhaps three areas Thursday, said Nick Christensen of the Larimer County Sheriff's Department.
Mark Engle's family decided not to leave their Colorado home despite the thick smoke billowing through the air outside Tuesday. From a window, he watched deer grazing in his backyard, driven out of the forest by flames that have devoured thousands of acres of land only a few miles away. His children's backpacks were placed by the door, stuffed with their favorite toys.
His family was packed and ready to leave in a hurry, Engle said.
But they wanted to stay put, even though authorities have ordered residents in the area to clear out.
"There's a number of people like myself, (for whom) packing up and leaving when you have livestock and animals just isn't as easy as if you have just a house," Engle said.
First measured at two acres early Saturday, the High Park Fire -- which officials say was caused by lightning -- has grown exponentially in the time since.
President Barack Obama telephoned Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday and said his administration is already making personnel, equipment and federal grants available to the state to help in the effort.
The huge plumes of smoke from the High Park fire are visible from miles away, casting a somber shadow even over communities well outside the danger zone.
CNN iReporter Dave Thrush, a musician from Denver, posted dramatic pictures of smoke darkening the skies above the Colorado State University campus Sunday.
"The fire is 20 miles from the campus, so no one is in danger there, but the billowing smoke is still very eerie," he wrote.
Another CNN iReporter, goodline69, a restaurant server in Lafayette, Colorado, told CNN on Monday: "It was a beautiful day in Fort Collins with business as usual for many, it seemed, so it was a bit surreal to be watching homes being destroyed from across the reservoir.
"I found myself watching the crowd watch the fire. Heartbreaking."
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Jessie Couillard watches the High Park Fire a few miles from her house in Glacier View Meadows, northwest of Fort Collins, on Monday, June 18. The lightning-ignited wildfire that started June 9 has destroyed nearly 200 homes.
The High Park Fire rages west of Fort Collins on Monday. The blaze has ravaged more than 58,700 acres but is about 50% contained, authorities say.
A truck offers a message for firefighters west of Fort Collins on Monday. More than 1,700 personnel are battling the wildfire.
Smoke from the High Park Fire rises above the Colorado National Guard Readiness Center near Fort Collins on Sunday, June 17.
A view of the High Park and its large plume of smoke from Fort Collins on Wednesday, June 13.
Pat Wright hugs daughter Stephanie Lauger after finding out Wednesday the High Park Fire hasn't destroyed her house. She will be able to return home three days after evacuating.
A large smoke plume rises from the High Park Fire west of Fort Collins on Wednesday.
Steve Segin of the U.S. Forest Service shows a map of the size and location of the northern Colorado blaze Tuesday, June 12, in Laporte, Colorado.
Residents watch the approaching fire Tuesday in the Roosevelt National Forest west of Fort Collins.
iReporter Victor W. Schendel, a Fort Collins photographer, has been watching the fast-moving wildfire grow and took this photo Tuesday as firefighters attempted to control the blaze.
Colorado's High Park Fire engulfs trees in flames near Fort Collins on Monday, June 11.
A helicopter drops water on a hot spot burning close to homes on Monday near Laporte, Colorado.
Michelle Mellenthin and Chris Huizenga watch firefighting efforts Monday from a Jeep near Laporte.
Flames threaten houses on the eastern front of the High Park fire near Laporte on Sunday, June 10.
Robby Wood, left, of Denver and his 16-year-old nephew, Jacob Wood, watch the thick smoke rise over a hill near Laporte.
The High Park Fire -- about 15 miles west of Fort Collins -- doubled in size overnight to 36,930 acres, or more than 57 square miles, authorities said Monday.
An orange-tinted sky looms over a small barn near Laporte on Sunday.
The fire is behaving erratically, fueled by strong winds, low humidity, high temperatures and dry brush, an official says.
A firefighting helicopter surveys the High Park Fire for hot spots Sunday near Laporte as the wind-driven blaze spreads.
A satellite image from NASA shows a plume of smoke from the High Park Fire about 20 miles northwest of Fort Collins on June 9.
The sprawling wildfire lights up the night sky Saturday in a photo from CNN iReporter Randy S. Macht taken in Louisville, Colorado, south of the blaze.
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