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Delaware Sends 20 Firefighters Out West To Battle Wildfires

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SMYRNA, Del. (CBS/AP) — A crew of 20 Delaware firefighters is going to Montana to fight wildfires.

It is the second crew in as many months to be dispatched from Delaware to fight the Western wildfires. A crew was dispatched in July to the Rocky Mountain region.

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Wildfires are burning through a swath of Western states.

Crews nationwide are offering their services as more 134 active fires currently burn 1.56 million acres.

The Delaware Forest Service is sending its Type 2IA Wildfire Crew to the Northern Rockies. The team mobilized at Blackbird State Forest today and will fly to Missoula, Montana tomorrow.

Posted by Delaware Forest Service on Saturday, August 4, 2018

The Delaware Forest Service says more than 1.5 million acres are ablaze in more than 130 separate wildfires.

In its twenty-two years, the Forest Service has trained more than 600 volunteer firefighters in Delaware to be part of 20-person crews. This allows for any number of crews to be dispatched out of state when needed.

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The 20-member team is traveling Sunday from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Missoula, Montana.

In the past, the First State has helped in other emergencies such as Florida's hurricane relief efforts in 2004 and New York in 2011.

There is a crew in California battling the Ferguson Fire, also.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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