A wildland fire that broke out eight miles south of Durango on Friday afternoon is about 25 percent contained and has swallowed 33 acres of piñon and dry grass.

A 20-person hand crew from Juniper Valley was working Saturday to control the fire, which started around 2:30 p.m. Friday on County Road 217, east of U.S. Highway 550.

Karola Hanks, fire marshal for the Durango Fire Protection District, said the fire was burning within a 30-acre boundary, and the goal was to reach 50 percent containment by Saturday evening.

“It’s really quiet out there now,” Hanks said early Saturday. “As the temperature comes up this afternoon, we’ll see a little smoke come up. We don’t have the winds, but temperature is high and humidity level is low, so these situations are not uncommon.”

Temperatures Saturday afternoon reached the mid 90s.

A local property owner started the fire to assist with agricultural production, which requires no permit, Hanks said. The fire department was notified about the scheduled burning, and the department and La Plata County Sheriff’s Office are investigating it, she said.

Los Pinos Fire Protection District, Durango Fire and Southern Ute Fire are working to put the fire out with three brush trucks, one engine, one tender and one water hauler.

A rust color streaked the sky Friday as an airtanker from Durango Tanker Base dropped slurry to control the flames. Other aircraft, including a single-engine plane, lead plane and helicopter, assisted on Friday.

Barbara Sammons, who lives in the 300 block of County Road 217, said she could still smell smoke Saturday morning but didn’t see it rising. As a precaution, she ran sprinklers in front of her home through the night.

“I left hoses with three Rain Birds going here on my hillside to keep things wet, and they’re still going,” Sammons said. “I was here when the slurry planes came through. It was interesting to watch, though things got a little hairy for a while.”

jpace@durangoherald.com