Hundreds of homeowners in Colorado were let back into their neighborhoods to see what's left of their houses after last week's devastating wildfire at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

Karen England Horan sifted through the remains of her Louisville condo hoping to find jewelry and family heirlooms.

She was unable to locate most of those items which she believes were destroyed.

But with the help of her son and a passing group of firefighters who stopped by to help, the 62-year-old who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did find a rock collection she says she's gathered for decades.

Horan is currently staying in a hotel in Boulder and is starting the process of filing an insurance claim.

She said she hopes she can rebuild or find another place in Boulder County to stay but is unsure if she can afford it due to rising housing prices.

Nearly 1,000 homes and other structures were destroyed in the wildfire and hundreds more were damages.

Investigators are still trying to find the cause of the wind-whipped blaze that erupted Thursday and blackened entire neighborhoods in the area located between Denver and Boulder.