HELENA, Mont. -- Montana is at such high risk for a wildfire "blowup" this summer that Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) wants at least some of the 1,500 National Guard soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere to return home for the wildfire season.
The governor warned Friday that the state is like a powder keg because of persistent drought, a shortage of mountain snow and forests full of dry timber.
"I know it's going to be a bad fire year," he said. He added that he anticipates a repeat of the 1988 season, when 4,122 fires charred 2.2 million acres in the Northern Rockies, including about 793,000 acres in Yellowstone National Park.
The governor has asked the Pentagon to return some of the Montana National Guard troops and aircraft called to active duty. Montana Guard spokesman Maj. Scott Smith said 10 of the state's 12 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, each capable of carrying a 600-gallon water bucket or 11 firefighters, are not back from Iraq.
