87 Major Wildfires Continue to Burn Across Western U.S.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Shifting our focus to the American West, where the wildfire situation there just keeps getting worse by the day. The fires that are burning in 13 states have now scorched more than a million acres, bringing the total to 5 million thus far in the current fire season. Live to Darby, Montana, CNN's Charles Zewe once again with us from there -- Charles.</s>CHARLES ZEWE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, 87 wildfires, major wildfires now burning in the West. And firefighters here in Southwestern Montana say they have made a good deal of progress overnight in battling the fires in the Bitterroot Valley that have consumed already about 242,000 acres of wilderness in this part of the state. But they say there's still a lot of work to be done. There is some concern about a number of houses and what's called a West Fork region of the Bitterroot Valley. The firefighters in there right now, trying to protect those structures. Around the rest of the region, there is concern about two fires making their way toward the Yellowstone National Park. The southern end of the park has been closed now. A dude ranch along the John D. Rockefellar Parkway has been closed, and 400 people evacuated there. as firefighters try to protect cabins and structures at that dude ranch. Fires all across Montana are burning so fiercely and so wildly that the state's adjutant general -- he is the commander of the National Guard here -- Major General John Pedegrass (ph) has asked the federal government to send in 1,000 more federal troops, along with a big AWACS radar control play, to control all the air traffic moving in and around Montana in trying to battle these wildfires. Officials say they are getting help from the weather somewhat today. Winds are calm. Temperatures. however, will be back up in the 80-degree range. They say they are also getting some help from a big smoke plume from those continuing fires in Idaho right next door. They say, though, a plume of smoke from the fires in Idaho holds down temperatures by as much as 10 degrees here in Montana. It also keeps relative humidities up. That means that that too, the increased moisture, helps in firefighters in battling those flames. So the situation continues to be anything but controlled all across the West. New fires continue to breakout. One in particular, Bill, near Helena yesterday, grain farmer out there harvesting his grain touched off a fire with a spark. In a day, it grew to 20,000 acres. So this is still a very volatile, a very dangerous situation -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Takes just about anything to get it going right now. It is so dry. Charles, thanks. Charles Zewe, again, in Darby.