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CUSTER COUNTY, COLO. -- Some evacuees from the Wetmore area were able to return home to grab needed items Wednesday. On their way up Highway 96, they got their first view of the burn scar. Those needing to feed livestock or get necessary medication were able to receive a police escort to their homes.

Jerry Steele of Wetmore said he is blessed to have his home to retire to when so many around his area lost so much.

"We were all spared, it was kind of scary," he said.

The fire came within a stone's throw of Steele's home before strong winds blew the flames eastward, avoiding his street altogether but claiming many homes just a gravel drive away. Steele says he called 9-1-1 as soon as he saw the flames, and barely got out in time.

"I was putting the dogs in the truck, the flames had come reached this hill and they were in this little flat up in here and you could see those trees they were just flaring just about as fast as I wanted to pay attention," he described.

The more than 2,100 acre fire managed to not jump across his street, but to get off his hill, Steele says he drove through "a wall of flames and smoke."

"I really thought my house was probably gonna be a loss the way that wind was blowing and the fire was coming this way," he said, "I really thought, boy, I'm just gonna get out of here with me and that's about it."

The rest of the night he watched as orange plumes flared up all around his street, the fire catching new fuel as it picked up speed.

Driving up Highway 96 now, he knows the fuel was in fact the homes of many of his neighbors. You could see firefighters with axes clearing out what remained of homes burned through to their foundation. Steele said the Wetmore community is blessed to have such a strong bond, and he is already preparing to do whatever it takes to help his friends rebuild.

"I wish there were something more I could do right now. But right now it's pull our stuff back together and make sure that were standing firm and give them a hand whenever they need it."