A wintry blast expected to dump significant amounts of snow across central and southeast Colorado is good news for fire crews battling the Decker fire, which is reported to be 75% contained.

As of Wednesday morning, the 8,910-acre wildfire burning two miles south of Salida hadn’t moved significantly over the previous 24 hours, and with snow in the forecast, there was no longer a threat of the fire spreading, fire officials said.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office lifted pre-evacuation orders Tuesday for zones 2 and 3 of Howard and the communities of Wellsville, Swissvale and Box Canyon. A pre-evacuation order for Bear Creek and zone 1 in Howard remains in effect.

As of Wednesday, 576 firefighters were working to douse the flames. None of them were expected to work after dark due to the diminished threat of the fire spreading, officials said. Emergency response teams will continue to assess post-wildfire threats throughout the area.

Low relative humidity levels and cooler conditions helped curb fire activity in the previous 24 hours, fire officials said. Meteorologists with the National Weather service were predicting Wednesday’s snowstorm could bring 5 inches of snow to Salida and potentially greater amounts to the nearby Sangre de Cristo mountains.