For over a week, officials related grim news on top of grim news about the fast-moving wildfire ravaging Colorado Springs, Colorado -- two dead, 346 homes lost, 32,000 forced evacuations, all as crews fought gamely in the face of whipping winds and horrific heat.

Until Sunday, that is.

"We've had a great day," city official Steve Cox said in an afternoon press conference. "We're going to open up many areas back to the citizens."

Fire authorities reported Sunday evening that the blaze, which so far burned over 17,600 acres -- close to 27 square miles -- was 55% contained. That represented a significant improvement from even a few hours earlier, when the fire was 45% contained.

This progress is consistent with officials' optimistic comments on Sunday, as they chronicled the latest in the fight to corral the deadly and still dangerous fire.

The most positive such development was the decision was to let thousands of people who had been ordered to evacuate back into their homes, beginning at 8 p.m. MT (10 p.m. ET) Sunday.

Some 3,000 still can't get back in, though Colorado Springs emergency management director Brett Waters noted that figure is 10% of the tally at the fire's peak.

"We'd ask that (residents return) in an orderly fashion," Cox said. "Our strategy will be that we continue to shrink that focus area down and down, and get people back in their homes as soon as we can."

Jerry Forte, the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, seconded the city official's comment in calling Sunday "a good day -- and it's the start of some more good days, we hope."

All electricity has been restored in the areas where evacuees will be allowed back in, Forte said. Dozens of technicians will hit those areas Monday, to "relight pilot lights, turn on gas and make sure everything is safe within your homes," according to the utility executive.

Yet the signs of progress don't change the utter devastation experienced by scores of families, who saw their lives turned upside down by the blaze.

Some returned Sunday, temporarily, to neighborhoods charred in recent days.

Among them was Susan Solich, who is caring for her four young grandsons, whose parents both died in the past year. She drove onto the street where she'd lived for 18 years to find some trees and homes still standing -- but not hers.

"I've seen pictures, but it didn't really impact me the way it did, turning into my driveway," Solich told CNN on Sunday afternoon. "My home was gone, it was imploded into the ground."

Sallie Clark, El Paso County commissioner, said several organizations have come together to help those affected rebuild their lives, including assembling records.

As for Solich, she said her family won't leave Colorado but they're not necessarily putting down roots again in Colorado Springs, either. Their focus for now is taking care of the children and making it through each day, as best they can.

"It won't be quite the same. It's kind of like the twilight zone," she said. "So many of our friends are gone, and they won't be back."

Authorities still haven't determined what caused the fire, which state officials have called the worst in Colorado history.

Firefighters are being aided by helicopters, air tankers and military planes dropping water and retardant.

The positive news announced Sunday was a sharp turn from what officials told CNN hours earlier, indicating that conditions could be the worst since Tuesday, when the fire exploded and began spreading quickly.