BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: In the western United States, wildfires continue burning across nine states. The governor of hard- hit Montana says his state is dealing with what he's calling "a catastrophe." CNN's Greg LeFevre joins us with an update -- Greg.</s>GREG LEFEVRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bernie. This has been a crazy day -- worried firefighters, worried families, temperatures from the 30s to the 90s and some very high winds. Just east of Hamilton, the fire in the Skalkaho complex erupted overnight. High winds came in about 2:00 in the morning. There were 244 firefighters already on the scene. Fire bosses rousted the day crew of 400 and sent them out early. Every available firefighter was on the scene of this fire, trying to prevent it from advancing any further. That same scenario was repeated all over western Montana, as the winds blew through last night. Meanwhile, across the Bitterroot Valley, rangers from the U.S. Forest Service were going door to door to warn neighbors they may be evacuated. It's called "knock and talk," and it was done because the Blodgett fire, raging west of the town of Hamilton, was in danger of coming down one of the canyons and endangering one of the neighborhoods. What the rangers do during these visits is they advise these homeowners what to take with them and that they may have to be evacuated. Also, they scout the neighborhood to see how well they'll have to protect it. But, Bernie, also there was some tragedy south of us in Utah. Two firefighters were killed when they were struck by lightning the other day, and we understand they were prisoners from the Utah prison system. The two firefighters had been trained and were considered respected and knowledgeable firefighters. So loss of life this week in the western fires. Bernie, back to you.</s>SHAW: Thank you, Greg LeFevre, with the latest from Montana.
High Winds Cause Eruption of Western Wildfires