A team of Iowa National Guard soldiers is now in Montana helping in the effort to control a massive forest fire that’s consumed tens of thousands of acres of timberland.The Iowans arrived in the Helena area Sunday night and are driving fuel tanker trucks to refuel military helicopters being used to fight the fires. Iowa Guard spokesman Colonel Robert King says the soldiers are from Company “D,” 109th Aviation in Boone and 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry of Waterloo. He says they have firefighting training they need and will be working at some remote sites.Colonel King says the Iowa Guard members are in Montana as part of a cooperative agreement between states. That agreement goes into action when a disaster is declared by any state’s governor, permitting the sharing of vital emergency resources. The mission will likely last about two weeks. The eight Iowa Guard members are working in teams of two each, driving four fuel transport trucks that each hold 25-hundred gallons.
