Giant fire set pace for Forest Service in West

Each year major wildfires in the West are fought like military battles, with firefighters deploying by ground and air, bombers dropping retardant on flames and incident commanders plotting strategy behind the lines. These often epic campaigns are largely the result of the Great Fire of 1910.

The largest in U.S. history, it burned an area the size of Connecticut, wiping out whole towns and killing 86 people in remote areas o f Idaho, Washington and Montana.

This is the 100th anniversary of the Aug. 20-21 firestorm that ended the era when wildfires were often allowed to burn themselves out. T...