IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Morning Rundown: Student protest arrests across the country, mom says ex-cop 'brainwashed' teen girlfriend before double killing, Venice tries to deter day-trippers

Western Wildfires: 200 Active-Duty Soldiers Will Help Fight Blazes

They will be trained and then deployed on Sunday, the National Interagency Fire Center said.
Get more newsLiveon
By Erin McClam

The government will mobilize 200 active-duty soldiers to help fight the wildfires torching the West — the first time it has taken that step in nearly a decade.

The Defense Department said the soldiers would come from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state. They will be divided into 10 crews of 20 soldiers each and sent Sunday to a wildfire to be determined.

An estimated 95 wildfires are burning across 1.1 million acres of land in seven Western states, taxing firefighters and budgets.

RELATED: Raging Wildfires Out West Are Scorching Firefighting Budgets

Before deployment, the soldiers will be trained as firefighters for one day in a classroom and two days in the field, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

Active-duty military personnel have been mobilized 35 times since 1987 to fight wildfires, the center said. The last time was in 2006, when a battalion from Lewis-McChord helped fight a fire in Washington state.

In the current wildfire outbreak, California, Washington and Oregon have also mobilized the National Guard.

Erin McClam

Erin McClam is a senior writer for NBC News, responsible for reporting, writing and editing general news for NBCNews.com. Prior to joining the site in January 2013, McClam worked at The Associated Press, where he spent 13 years and was most recently financial markets editor. In that role, McClam was responsible for a team of five reporters and a deputy editor that covered the stock and bond markets, financial regulation and the nation's largest banks.

Prior to that role, McClam held a variety of jobs at AP, including being a national correspondent and an original member of its Top Stories Desk editing operation.

McClam lives in New York.