NAPA COUNTY (CNN) — The Snell Fire is still burning in Napa County. 

At last check, the fire has scorched 2,400 acres and is only about 30 percent contained. 

Mandatory evacuation orders for Snell Valley Road and Berryessa Estates was lifted Monday around 11 a.m. 

The west side of Berryessa Knoxville Road from Pope Creek Bridge to the County Line remains closed.

It’s extremely rugged terrain for the Snell Fire, so a lot of the work to contain it is being done by prison hand crews and helicopters.

There are three working this blaze, along with 17 bulldozers. 

But if terrain has made it difficult to put this fire out, the terrain may have also saved dozens of homes.

Steven Bowen had a front row seat to the Snell Fire as it menaced his father’s home through the night. 

But when it hit Putah Creek, it turned. 

“Just burned literally along the River. It never jumped the river.”

“The ashes started coming over the houses. And we’re like: that’s not good. And that’s when. You can see, it literally start following the river,” he said. 

It turned the fire, and served as a ready supply of water too for the helicopters that were keeping up a near-constant air attack in the fire Sunday night. 

The air you see moving across the surface of Putah Creek is coming off the helicopter’s rotors. 

Beyond that, breezes were light through the day Sunday. 

That helped keep the fire sluggish, another advantage for firefighters. 

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