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Marshall Fire: Some Superior Residents Take First Look At Homes, Evaluate Next Steps

SUPERIOR, Colo. (CBS4) - Some Superior residents who were under evacuation and pre-evacuation orders due to the Marshall Fire were allowed to return home Saturday. Those included people living north of Rock Creek Parkway and south of Coalton Road.  

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Many other areas remain closed, including downtown Superior and areas down South Pitkin Avenue, Indiana Street or Eldorado Drive, Original Town, Coal Creek Crossing or the Sagamore neighborhood.  

LINK: See Boulder County's Preliminary List Of Addresses Of Homes Destroyed

While officials are asking people to stay away from evacuated areas, many still parked outside and hiked in hoping to get a better view of the status of their homes.  

"It's really surreal," said Heidi Porter. "I'm not used to seeing my neighborhood like this."  

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Porter's home on Andrew Drive is one of 332 structures in Superior destroyed in the Marshall Fire. In total, officials estimate 991 were destroyed across Boulder County. The fires is 62% contained and has burned 6,219 acres.

After seeing her home, Porter described first being devastated by the sight, but then feeling a sense of peace.  

"I saw it burning on the news, but I didn't know to what degree," Porter said. "Now that I can see it's just gone. That's probably healing in itself in knowing now we can move forward and figure out what next steps we need to do."  

For those more fortunate, the next steps were much different. Some grabbed belongings from their still-standing homes and others checked utilities ahead of a frigid night.

"We won't get the gas turned on probably for a day or two," said Colleen Tingle, who said her home on Erie Lane appeared untouched by the fire.  

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On Saturday, town leaders voted to extend a local disaster emergency order. In the same meeting, officials said the power was mostly restored around town, but gas service is still a work in progress.  

RELATED: Water Shut Off To Marshall Fire Burn Area In Superior

 "Their goal is to begin relights by tomorrow and have 25% of the outages done by tomorrow and then by the 4th of January have 100% of the town relit, said Superior Mayor Clint Folsom.  

The Town of Superior has also shut off water in the burn area to keep pipes from freezing and bursting. When that changes, or when more people can return home, remains unclear. 

"At this point, I'm going to be so relieved to just be in my home, that I really don't care about anything else at this point," said Tingle.  

At the Saturday night meeting, town leaders also provided more updates. They said they expect the boil water advisory to remain until mid-week but have no timeline on the return of internet or telecommunications since a major fiber line was damaged near the Element Hotel. 

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