Governor extends emergency to eastern Montana

ROUNDUP — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has extended his emergency declaration to include six counties and an American Indian reservation in eastern Montana threatened by wildfires.

The emergency order signed Wednesday morning is for Musselsshell, Rosebud, Custer, Treasure, Yellowstone and Big Horn counties, along with the Northern Cheyenne reservtion.

Lights from a fire truck streak across a burning hillside in a time exposure as the Dahl fire burns, south of Roundup, overnight Wednesday.

The order extends the emergency Schweitzer declared Tuesday in Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, Jefferson and Madison counties.

The order allows the governor to mobilize state resources and the Montana National Guard.

There are at least six wildfires burning in southwestern and eastern Montana. One blaze south of Roundup has burned dozens of houses and forced hundreds of people out of their homes after torching 18,700 acres in a few hours Tuesday.