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The Montana National Guard has a new tool which could aid local fire departments in fighting wildland fires, with the recent addition of a dip site at Fort Harrison, which is a concrete pool that refills itself when water is taken out of it.

The National Guard typically uses it to suppress fires on the Fort, but during a fire season briefing this week, they told the Department of Natural Resources & Conservation that it is available to the agency for fire supression.

The National Guard also uses the pool as a training tool.

Lt. Col. Scott Smith with the Montana National Guard says, "We train our pilots keeping them bucket-qualified all the time. Certainly I just throw that out to Mary [Sexton, Director at DNRC] and the Forest Service. If you need to use it coordinate with us. It is available for you to use, too."

Smith told various fire agencies that even with recent deployments, the National Guard will make itself available to help fight fires this summer.