4 firefighters out of hospital after 5 injured in Montana
In this photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management, a helicopter works above the Devil's Creek Fire in central Montana on Thursday, July 22, 2021. Five firefighters were injured when a thunderstorm and swirling winds in central Montana blew a lightning-caused wildfire back on them, federal officials said Friday, July 23, 2021. (Mark Jacobsen/Bureau of Land Management via AP)
BILLINGS (AP) — Four firefighters have been released from the hospital and a fifth was being treated at a burn center Monday after a Montana wildfire overran them last week, authorities said.
The five firefighters were injured after swirling winds blew a lightning-caused wildfire back on them Thursday. They had been trying to build a defensive line to stop the blaze in the Devils Creek area of Garfield County in central Montana.
The firefighter still being treated — a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee — suffered the most injuries of the agency personnel involved but "is making good progress and is in good spirits," spokesperson Kari Cobb said.
Two of those released from the hospital are engine crew members based at the Quemado Ranger District in New Mexico's Gila National Forest, according to Forest Service spokesperson Punky Moore.
The other three are wildlife service crew members based at the Eastern North Dakota Wetland Management District Complex.
Investigators from an interagency team were examining the accident scene to better determine what happened, Moore said.
"All we know is that the time of the accident, there was a sudden wind shift and there had been thunderstorms in the area with erratic winds," she said.
It was unclear when the results of the probe would be released.
The Devil's Creek Fire grew overnight Sunday to 10 square miles (26 square kilometers). Crews have been trying to keep it from approaching the nearby Fort Peck Reservoir along the Missouri River.