Evacuee: Colorado wildfire's destructive aftermath is 'kind of like the twilight zone' NEW: Fire growth has stopped; crews are in "mop-up mode," incident commander says NEW: Some remaining evacuees could be home in days, an official says So far this year, 1.9 million acres have burned in wildfires, federal agency says Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN) -- Firefighters reported more advances Monday against the Waldo Canyon wildfire, saying they've stopped the fire's growth and are working on putting out hot spots within its charred 17,800-acre footprint. It has not moved. Perimeter growth: nothing," incident commander Rich Harvey said Monday. Now we're into the mop-up mode. It was hopeful news for the 3,000 residents who remained under mandatory evacuation orders Monday. The focus is on getting people back into their homes as soon as possible, said Steve Cox, who is with Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach's office. "In some cases, we're talking days, not weeks," he said. The fire killed two people, destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more. Photos: Wildfire photographer Kari Greer goes inside the inferno The U.S. Forest Service has warned it could be mid-July before the fire is fully under control. The blaze is one of several Western wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota -- where authorities said a U.S. Air Force C-130 assisting in the firefighting effort crashed Sunday night. The aircraft crashed while fighting the White Draw Fire near Edgemont, South Dakota, the U.S. Northern Command said. No information was available about the crew. While the Waldo Canyon Fire was 55% percent contained Monday and hopes were high for further advances, fire crews were mindful of the possibility of erratic gusty winds that could cause a sudden and unpredictable outbreak, incident commander Rich Harvey told reporters. While crews work to put the fire out for good, investigators are scouring the burned-out landscape for clues to what started the 17,800-acre fire. Federal agents joined the investigation after reports emerged that an arsonist possibly started the wildfire, which has cost more than $11 million to date to fight. Investigators had not yet come to any conclusions, Lt. Jeff Kramer of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said Monday. "We'd ask that (residents return) in an orderly fashion," said Cox, an assistant to the Colorado Springs mayor. District Attorney Dan May warned would-be looters that he intends to deal harshly with anyone who tries to loot evacuated homes, promising potential prison sentences of more than two decades for each break-in. Lists of addresses put out by local officials spelled out the toll with simple descriptions: "no visible damage," "visible damage" and "total loss." On streets with names that reflect the city's serene surroundings, Majestic Drive and Mirror Lake Court, the toll was unimaginable with nearly every house damaged or destroyed. 'Great day' as evacuations lifted; fight continues against Colorado fire Some returned Sunday temporarily to these streets to survey the damage. She drove onto the street in the Mountain Shadows area where she'd lived for 18 years to find some trees and homes still standing, but not hers. My home was gone; it was imploded into the ground. Solich said members of her family won't leave Colorado but they're not necessarily putting down roots again in Colorado Springs either. Ted and Kate Stefani, meanwhile, vowed to return and rebuild. We love that block, we just love that community. ... And it's our home," Ted Stefani said. All told, 52 active fires across the country have claimed 901,215 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far in 2012, the agency has tracked 27,176 fires that have burned nearly 1.9 million acres, the agency said. In 2011, when wildfires raged across much of Texas, 35,574 fires burned 4.7 million acres, according to the agency. Colorado fire victim films her evacuation Obama tours site of deadly fire in Colorado New app tracks Colorado wildfires