Colorado officials are thanking firefighters for their quick action after multiple fires threatened nearby homes.

First responders in Douglas County say the series of small brush fires that burned 130 acres near Louviers could have been much worse. The fire came just feet from homes, 39 houses in Louviers had to be evacuated.

But thanks to the quick work of first responders, no structures were lost. Neighbors returned to their homes Sunday night. The fire is being called the Airport Fire due to its proximity to Airport Road in Louviers. Its cause is under investigation. As of Monday, it was 90% contained.

Fire crews are not out of the woods yet. They worked hard on Monday to hold containment at 90% and mop up hotspots amid high winds and high temperatures. South Metro Fire Rescue estimates the fire will be at 100% containment in the next few days.

"I was concerned over the smoke, so I drove over here as fast as I could," said Philip George.

George is a nearby resident and insurance agent with clients in the area. He arrived on the scene Sunday to find a line of spot fires west of Highway 85, from Chatfield to Louviers.

"It was the oddest thing I'd ever seen because it was just some little spot fires, and I thought, 'Wow, maybe someone did that intentionally.' But when I got closer, I saw it was right along the railroad, so I thought maybe one of the wheels on a rail car was throwing sparks," George said.

South Metro Fire says the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but confirmed there were multiple fires along the railroad and a train in the area.

BNSF Railway said fires along their rail line are rare and that they take steps to prevent them, including conducting risk assessments and clearing brush. They say they are cooperating with local agencies to investigate the cause of this fire. On Monday, the BNSF fire train worked to extinguish hotspots along the rail line.

"Driving through here today and looking at the aftermath, I mean it's right next to that house, so that had to be very scary for those folks," George said.

Whatever the cause, quick work by first responders stopped the fire before it reached any homes.

"It was really impressive how quickly they got it out," George said.

Officials said Douglas County's helitack team dropped 88 tankloads of water on the fire Sunday. While they got help from a Forest Service helicopter, they said state resources were busy fighting fires elsewhere in Colorado.

"We did place orders for both federal and state hand crews, to which they were both unavailable due to other fires occurring in Colorado," said South Metro Fire Chief John Curtis.

"Had we not had that fire helitack team in the air within 10 minutes, this fire would have been much worse than it was," said Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly.

Douglas County says it invests more in fire protection than any other county in the state and is calling on neighboring counties to follow suit.

"How we do not have a helicopter on standby and ready to go in the Denver metro area is beyond me," Weekly said.

"We have been advocating with metro area commissioners that every county needs to have year-round helitack support. We are the only county that has year-round helitack support," said Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon.

"By the time I was driving out here from only maybe five minutes away, that helicopter was in the air dumping water on the fire. So I don't know whose idea that was, I don't know whose tax dollars are paying for that, but that helicopter, I've seen it maybe four or five times since I've lived down here, save a lot of homes because it is on the fires every time," George said.

Neighbors in Louviers told CBS Colorado they want more fire mitigation work done in the area. South Metro officials said that kind of mitigation is difficult in the riparian area.

"That area is considered riparian area, which is a sensitive ecosystem set aside for large mammal migration. It's also relatively low fire risk, so no fire mitigation has been done in the area. In the case of this fire, it offered a buffer, preventing the fire from spreading more quickly," a spokesperson for Douglas County said in a statement. "We can't mitigate on private property. We have mitigated for wildfires on our open spaces in Louviers."

Douglas County is offering a 50% match to homeowners for the cost of fire mitigation on their property. Applications for that  opened Monday and will close on Aug. 14.

See the full statement from BNSF below:

"Fires along our rail line are infrequent, but we work hard to try and prevent them. In the rare event one does occur, we assist municipalities in suppression efforts and help the communities that are affected.

BNSF conducts thorough risk assessments that consider factors such as vegetation type, rainfall, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed/direction, time-of-day of work activities, and type and extent of work activities. We clear brush, cease hot work activities during periods of high winds or unpredictable gusting winds, use spark shields, pre-wet the work environment when needed, and designate fire watchers to be able to react quickly in the event of a fire. We also have tank cars full of water pre-staged in areas prone to fire conditions.

We also have specially equipped firefighting trains. BNSF works closely with local fire agencies, and during fire season, these trains not only help fight fires regardless of the cause, but also transport firefighters into remote areas and serve as a mobile command center for first responders. One of our fire trains is currently being used by the local fire department in Douglas County. We are cooperating with local agencies to investigate the cause of the fire."

Kendall Sloan

BNSF Media