The Colorado wildfire that has engulfed almost 37,000 acres near High Park now covers an area bigger than the nearby city of Fort Collins as crews struggle to put out the blaze.

The size of this 2012 Colorado fire nearly doubled from Sunday to Monday; the blaze encompassed 20,000 acres as of Sunday night and grew to 36,930 acres Monday morning, CNN reported.

That puts this 2012 Colorado wildfire at 57 square miles, larger than the 47-square-mile area of Fort Collins, which has a population of more than 143,000, according to the latest Census figures.

It's doubtful the Colorado wildfire will be under control by the end of the day, according to incident commander Bill Hahnenberg.

"The hope for containment today, I will tell you, is tenuous," Hahnenberg, in charge of containing the blaze, told CNN.

About 100 buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the Colorado wildfire as of Monday morning, coloradodaily.com reported.

"It is a very aggressive fire, fuel-driven, wind-driven, and the winds have not been favorable," Nick Christensen, a Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokesman, told the website. "The brush, timber and grasses are very, very, dry."

The wildfire is moving at a quick pace, according to Christensen. The blaze is spreading at a rate of 20 to 40 feet a minute, or 1 mph, coloradodaily.com reported.

Click through the slideshow to see devastating photos of the Colorado fire and the damage it has caused thus far.

To contact the editor, e-mail: