Wildfires blazing in Montana; Pentagon refused Gov's request for Guard

[Bluebear]

TODAY:

A string of fires forced the closure of a 90-mile stretch of highway, and authorities cited a quick response by emergency crews for protecting nearby towns.

About a dozen fires broke out Thursday along Interstate 90 in western Montana, closing the four-lane road from Missoula to the Idaho line, officials said. The road remained closed early Friday after at least 1,000 acres along the highway burned — at times on both sides of the road....

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer had declared an emergency for wildfire danger Thursday because of current bone-dry conditions and forecasts for continued hot, dry weather.

"We will pray for rain and prepare for the worst," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050805/ap_on_re_us/western_fires&printer=1

===
EARLIER THIS YEAR

...But as fire season approaches this year, the Montana Guard faces what its commander describes as an "unprecedented" shortage of firefighters and helicopters, prompting the state's governor, Democrat Brian Schweitzer, to ask the Pentagon to return more of the state's troops from Iraq this summer for what he fears could be a particularly dangerous fire season.

"It's dry, it's double dry, it's triple dry," Schweitzer said in an interview at the state capitol, citing much-lower-than-normal snowfall across a state that has suffered from drought for the past seven years.

"Why don't you send Montana's Guardsmen home for July and August? We have 49 other states. They can rotate at different times. We'll take up the slack -- for example, at Christmas."

The Pentagon has refused his request. And while state and federal forest officials in Montana say they are confident they can work around the shortage of Guard personnel and absence of 10 out of 12 of the Guard's Black Hawk helicopters, Schweitzer tapped a sense of anxiety among governors whose troops are fighting the insurgency in Iraq with no end in sight....

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/05/montana_in_a_tug_of_war_for_guardsmen/

[wli]

1. Bushler's abuse of the National Guard finally hits home for governors

No big surprise, really.

[stevedeshazer]

2. I hope Schweitzer stays loud on this one.

He's right, and it resonates with voters.

[madrchsod]

3. i bet old jebbie doesn`t have that problem

if you`re a democrat and don`t play ball with bush your state can burn.

[stellanoir]

4. Not only is

most of the Guard serving in Iraq when they signed up for one weekend a month or to assist in natural disasters but Schweitzer is a plain spoken rising star in the Democratic Party.

They won't assist because they want him to look badly.

These bastards are heartless.

[etherealtruth]

5. There is no such thing as ...

"My fellow Americans," to a true right winger ... only "My fellow right wingers."

They do not even pretend to represent the entire country ... it makes me ill!

[Bluebear]

6. RW trollers will say God is punishing Montana

for having a Democratic governor, then childishly urge the flames on.