Firefighters keep battling East Canyon Fire; about 21 percent contained

MONTEZUMA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Firefighters from multiple counties are still battling a 2,900-acre wildfire burning near Durango.

Operations Section Chief Chris Zoller gave an update Saturday morning on Facebook about the East Canyon Fire. He said he expects the containment to rise from 21 percent in the next few days.

"We're getting into that phase of the fire where we successfully have put lines around the fire and now we're holding and mopping up," Zoller said.

The fire chief says most of the containment progress happened on the western edge of the wildfire. Crews will also start working more on the north side, but that area poses its own challenges for firefighters.

"We want to be very careful with the oak brush because it hides heat very well," Zoller said.

On Wednesday, the Colorado Springs Fire Department sent some of its own crews to contain the fire.

CSFD Chief Mike Smaldino said residents of Colorado will likely see more burn restrictions and should be on the lookout for any smoke - especially during dry and clear weather conditions.

"We're ready here, unfortunately," Smaldino said. "We had five days straight of red flag warnings, high temps and low humidity, and we have thousands of homes in areas we consider dangerous."