Crews and equipment from 34 states arrived Monday to help fight four massive wildfires that have destroyed a dozen homes in eastern Montana and forced ranchers to let their livestock loose as the blazes spread unhindered across roads, rivers and man-made fire lines.
The reinforcements come from states from Alaska to Florida. They were particularly needed Monday, as shifting winds threatened another run by the fires in a rural area south of the Missouri River that have burned a combined 353 square miles. It’s the largest complex of fires in a state with 18 blazes burning, which is more than twice as many as Alaska, the next highest state with eight, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.