A 9,624-acre fire in the historic mining community of Crown King is 90 percent contained, and fire crews expect it to be fully contained by Friday, officials said.

Crown King evacuees started returning home Saturday evening. The evacuation was lifted after a thunderstorm drenched the area Friday and fire crews made progress in building a protection line around the blaze.

People with cabins in the Horsethief Basin area are still being kept out. Forest officials said residents of Horsethief Basin and others kept out of their homes should be able to return Wednesday, though power to some areas may not be restored for another few weeks.

The number of homes lost increased to four after fire crews touring areas that had been inaccessible through the week discovered another burned house on Friday, officials said.

The blaze, which chewed through more than 14 square miles of forest and forced the evacuation of the mountain town, destroyed 11 buildings -- four more than originally thought.

All were burned in the first two days of the fire, which broke out late June 28.

Fire crews working the lines were still protecting Horsethief Basin.

So far, the total cost of the fire is $4.5 million, officials said.

The fire is believed to have been caused by lost hikers either seeking warmth or as a signal.

Residents of about 400 homes in the resort area were being warned they may need to evacuate just hours after the blaze erupted. Because many are vacation cabins, when the order came just after noon on June 29 only about 120 residents were in town. A handful refused to leave.

Gov. Janet Napolitano toured the fire area by helicopter on Thursday, and returned with a warning to Arizona residents to be careful over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. She said careless behavior could easily touch off another fire in the state's dry forests.

She warned Arizonans to not carelessly discard lit cigarettes and to make sure to put out their campfires.

"Those are things that could ignite another major fire, and right now, obviously that is exactly the last thing that we want to do," she said. "Any little spark can ignite a major fire."

Napolitano praised firefighters' efforts to protect the rest of the several hundred homes and vacation cabins in the area.

"We're dealing with a very hot summer, very hot conditions ... severe and rough terrain, a lot of beetle kill in that area," she said. "The fact that they've been able to keep it relatively contained and protect the town of Crown King so far is great work.

"We have our fingers crossed," she added.