BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Extreme heat descended on parts of the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains on Monday, as authorities struggled to contain dozens of wildfires burning in a region parched by prolonged drought and blanketed with thick smoke.
Record-setting temperatures were forecast for much of eastern Montana and portions of northern Wyoming.
Billings, Montana’s largest city, was expected to hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius), topping a record set 61 years ago. Glasgow was forecast to reach 108 F (42 C).
The heat lingers through Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
Red flag warnings for high fire risk were issued across almost all of Montana and Idaho and portions of northeastern and western Wyoming. More than two dozen new fires broke out across the three states Sunday, further straining firefighing resources already stretched thin.
Thunderstorms rolling through on Monday night will bring winds that could fan wildfires and lightning that could spark new ones, according to the weather service.
A Montana firefighter was hospitalized in serious condition at the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City for burns he suffered when strong winds shifted suddenly on a fire in south-central Montana.
Dan Steffensen was injured fighting a fire in the Harris Hill area near Joliet, which has torched 4 square miles (10.5 square kilometers) of land.
