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Fire crews have gained the upper hand the Willow fire burning on Mount Massive. Recent precipitation has helped crews corral the fire behind fortified containment lines. …But after a record snow drought last winter, experts don’t expect the moisture will fully extinguish the blaze anytime soon. “This thing is not going out,” said Joe Goudsward, a National Weather Service meteorologist assigned to the Willow fire. “You’re going to see puffs of smoke until the snow flies,” he said. It’s a reality sinking in across the Mountain West as fires smolder well into the summer. Officials overseeing other blazes around Colorado — such as the Aspen Acres fire near Pueblo and the Gold Mountain fire near Ouray — also don’t expect the monsoon can erase the deficit left by a bone-dry winter. If those predictions play out, those fires could linger for months, or roar back to life under the right conditions.