Wildfires blasting through West draw states to lend support

OREGON (AP) — Out-of-state crews are heading to Montana to battle a blaze that injured five firefighters as the West struggles with a series of fires that have ravaged rural lands and destroyed homes.

Authorities say progress is being made on the nation’s largest blaze, the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, but additional mandatory evacuations were ordered Friday evening and less than half of it has been contained.

Meanwhile, crews from California and Utah were headed to Montana, where five firefighters were injured Thursday as they worked the Devil’s Creek blaze near the town of Jordan.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for four northern counties because of wildfires causing “conditions of extreme peril.”