National Guard troops have been called in to help battle against dozens of wildfires across the Western United States as announced on Monday by The National Interagency Fire Center.
A total of 200 duty military troops have already received the order. 10 crews of 20 soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division will be trained on August 19 and will likely be sent the following day, according to a spokesperson for Forth Lewis. It is still not sure where exactly among Washington State, Oregon, California, or Idaho they will be sent. This step would be the first time in nine years the National Guard was used to aid in fighting fires.
900 firefighters are already battling the wildfire, but the uncontained fires are burning through grass and blazing 180 miles east of Seattle. The said wildfires have already destroyed an estimated 75 homes and scorched 155 miles, affecting 2,900 people who were given mandatory evacuation orders in the Chelan area. Occurring in the midst of summer tourist season, in a tourist destination along Lake Chelan in the Cascade Range, the outbreak of fire on Friday made the tourists leave the area, according to The Fox News.
"Nationally, the system is pretty tapped. Everything is being used right now, so competition for resources is fierce," said Rob Allen, Chelan Deputy Incident Commander for the fires, according to the Associated Press.
The Western U.S. has encountered so many wildfires this month that equipment and manpower are running short. Montana and Idaho had been experiencing normal fire amounts until drought, high temperature and lightning created new blazes across the area, as reported by the Associated Press.
National Interagency Fire Center has hit its highest alert level. The military is providing C130s cargo airplanes, known as Mobile Ariborne Fire Fighting Systems, equipped to drop large fire retardants.
"The U.S. military has been a key partner in wildland firefighting for decades, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to provide us with soldiers to serve as firefighters," said Aitor Bidaburu, National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group chairman, according to CNN.
