Colorado families begin to pick up pieces following winter wildfire

Colorado officials said it will the recovery from this weekend's wildfire will be a tough and long road for thousands of residents.

Families and officials in Colorado began returning to their towns that were ravaged by last week's wildfires.

Gov. Jared Polis said in a news conference Sunday that over 1,000 homes were destroyed in the fires, which started on Thursday, and many more were damaged. The governor didn't have an exact figure on how many people were affected but said it was in the "thousands."

Over the weekend, some families returned home and got a firsthand look at the damage. Burned cars and scorched homes were covered in snow.

"For many, this seems like a surreal experience," Polis said. "It's a shock, and the reality hasn’t even set in for a lot of people."