Dozens of Montana firefighters are still on the lines of the Thomas Fire in Ventura County, California. The blaze has become the fifth largest wildfire in California history.
As of Monday afternoon, the Thomas Fire had scorched more than 23,000 acres.
Chief Ron Lindroth, of the Central Valley Fire District, said Monday his crews are mostly tasked with protecting homes and other structures. They left for the fire last week, along with firefighters from other departments including Big Sky and Missoula.
Montana firefighters are set to return at the end of their two-week rotation in California, but that could change, according to Lindroth.
“Usually when the crews deploy it is for a two-week commitment of time, with travel time on each side of that. It could be up to three weeks that they're away. If the fire situation down there continues, quite often they'll request an extension of the deployment time,” said Lindroth.