U.S. military deployed to help fight wildfires in West

The Department of Defense approved a request to send personnel from the 17th Field Artillery Brigage, 7th Infantry Division, Army from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington to battle the blazes. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said it's the first time the military has assisted wildfire suppression efforts since 2006.
It's not clear which wildfire the soldiers will be sent to — there are 96 currently burning through about 1.1 million acres in Oregon, Washington,Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Colorado.
The soldiers are scheduled to undergo training at their base in Washington before Sunday, when they are expected to begin working on a wildfire. The last time active duty military personnel were mobilized to fight wildfires was in 2006 at the Tripod Complex Fires in Washington.

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