Residents who were rushed out of their homes over the past week due to the raging fire near Deer Creek Canyon Road can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office announced on Tuesday that people affected by the mandatory evacuations in the Ken Caryl area could officially return home as of 10 a.m. 

Areas under a mandatory evacuation after the Quarry fire began on Tuesday evening included the Deer Creek Mesa, Sampson, Maxwell, McKinney and Murphy subdivisions. They will all now be placed on pre-evacuation status in case things pick turn for the worst.

Areas with previous pre-evacuation orders — Hillsdale, Oehlmann, Homestead, Silver Creek and Silver Creek South — have been moved to “non-status.” 

This lifting does not mean that just anyone can rush back to the mountains to take peeks at the damage done, authorities said. 

“Once our residents are all allowed back in, they are going to be the only ones allowed back in for at least 48 hours,” Karlyn Tilley, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news briefing on Monday. “We’re going to give them a little bit of time. We’re still going to have the roadblocks. We want to make sure they have that space and that time to get back home, get their animals back home and settled before the public can get up their and start recreating and seeing the burn scar.”

Those returning home will be required to pick up re-entry credentials at the evacuation center at Dakota Ridge High School, located at 13399 W. Coal Mine Ave before 6 p.m.

Deer Creek Canyon Road will remain closed between Grizzly Drive and Phillipsberg for several days for final clean up, the department said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire remained at 578 acres with 82% containment, but the fire is both contained and far enough away from residences to allow them to return home, authorities said. 

Alexander Mountain fire

Meanwhile, the Alexander Mountain fire in Larimer County continued on into Tuesday, but things have drastically improved since the 5% containment reported on Thursday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire sits at 9,668 acres but is 83% contained.

More than 535 personnel are continuing to battle the fire, as well. 

“The work that we’ve all been able to do together, from what I’m being told by people who have done this for three-or-more decades, is unprecedented. And I credit a lot of that working together with the success that we’ve seen in here today,” Capt. Tim Keeton with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday, noting the cooperation among the state, U.S. Forest Service and National Incident Management Team.

Like Jefferson County, some residents living near the Alexander Mountain fire have been given the green light to return home with credentials.

Property owners and residents of the Storm Mountain and Cedar Park communities may pick up re-entry credentials from the Larimer County Loveland Campus at 200 Peridot Ave. or the Estes Park Event Center at 1125 Rooftop Way until 4 p.m. Tuesday.

It’s for two reasons, according to Keeton.

“I want to make sure that the looky-loos and the people that just have a curiosity to see what the damage was are not up in there until residents have a chance to go up in there and figure out what they lost or what they didn’t lose,” he said.

He also noted that it’s for the safety of keeping people out of the region, while residents get themselves back to life. He added that it will also reduce traffic due to the high-level of firefighters remaining up there for some time.

There were 929 homes still under mandatory evacuation orders as of Monday evening, with another 245 in voluntary evacuation zones.

Residents are being directed to NOCO Alert for the latest information on evacuations.

The Joint Information Center for the Alexander Mountain Fire can be reached at 970-980-2500.

The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS contributed to this report.