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416 Fire No Longer Considered A Threat

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — A large wildfire that started over a month ago in southwestern Colorado is no longer considered a threat.

A national firefighting team brought in to battle the 416 Fire north of Durango is leaving Tuesday, giving responsibility for monitoring it to San Juan National Forest officials.

Rain over the weekend helped tame the 85-square-mile fire but National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Aleksa told The Durango Herald that it wasn't as heavy as feared.

Over 2,000 homes were evacuated by the fire in the epicenter of a large U.S. Southwest swath of exceptional drought.

Firefighters say it will take a lot of rain or snow to completely extinguish it and it could still produce smoke before that happens.

Some more rain is expected this week before the expected arrival of more steady seasonal monsoon rains.

Wildfire Resources

- Visit CBSDenver.com's Colorado Wildfire section.

Wildfire Photo Galleries

- See images from the most destructive wildfires (Black Forest, Waldo Canyon, High Park and Fourmile), the deadliest (Storm King) and largest wildfire (Hayman) in Colorado history.

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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