Flames from the Bighorn Fire climb over a ridge near Esperero Canyon lighting up a stand of saguaro as the blaze continues relentlessly to the east on the southern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson, Ariz., June 23, 2020. Engine crews were monitoring the fire, which was largely beneficial and no threat to homes.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

The Bighorn Fire has grown to 88,046 acres but progress on fighting the blaze that's been burning north of Tucson since June 5, continues to go well, officials said in a Friday morning update.

UPDATES: Bighorn Fire near Tucson, July 3: Here's what we know

"We're in good shape with the work we've done so far," Incident Commander Scott Schuster, of the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team said Friday morning about fire lines and other buffers created around the areas of Oracle and SaddleBrooke.

Containment of the lightning-caused blaze has remained steady at 33 percent. Some 1,100 people are assigned to fight the wildfire.

Schuster said firefighters will be challenged by wind on Friday as well as low humidity, which has help fuel flareups in different parts of the Santa Catalinas.

"All those areas on the top of the mountain are looking in good shape," he said, describing a "green doughnut" of fire protection established around Summerhaven, Willow Creek and the Catalina Highway.

In 2003, the Aspen Fire destroyed more than 300 structures in the Summerhaven area. The Bighorn Fire has now surpassed the size of the Aspen Fire, which burned 84,750 acres.

He said Tucsonans will continue to see and uptick in smoke Friday, but the increase in smoke is "not a concern to firefighters."

Flames will continue to burn in the lower Catalina Foothills, but fire lines and other buffering there is strong and crews are ready to respond quickly, he said.

The area around the upper Sabino Canyon has quieted too. Helicopters dropped huge buckets of water there Thursday.

On Friday morning, evacuation orders for the Catalina Foothills area from Alvernon Way to Kolb Road, and Skyline Drive to the forest service's boundary to the north, were downgraded to "ready."

The area had previously been on "set," as part of the state's "ready, set, go" evacuation system. The Pima County Sheriff's Department said residents should "maintain vigilance." A full map of the evacuation orders can be found here.

In an update Thursday night, officials said crews in the Summerhaven area improved containment lines. The fire was active near Maverick Spring and Green Mountain northeast of Willow Canyon, but containment efforts there remain strong.

Burnout operations were conducted near Biosphere 2 and about four miles southwest of Oracle.

On the east side of the fire, bulldozers were used to build more fire lines in the Davis Spring Road area.

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