TWIN BRIDGES — As multiple fires continue rage throughout southwest Montana, fire camps— like the one in Twin Birdges, play an important role in response efforts.
"You know, we have about, a little over 400 people there that are fighting the fire. With that, we need a lot of support here in town to help with that," says Manny Mendoza, operations chief for Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6.
Mendoza oversees resources for fire operations like the one here in Madison County.
"We really just set up a little city to support the folks the folks on the ground up there," he adds.
Crews at this location are currently battling the Cloudrest fire and Bivens creek fire.
"We need to feed them. We need to bed them. We need to make sure they have the food they need for the day. And so, we really need a big support system here in camp to make sure we get done what we need to on the hill," says Mendoza.
Northern Rockies PIO, Amy Hyfield, gave me a tour around the expansive incident command post—highlighting the many resources that come together--from cooks, to meteorologists, to fire map developers.
Mendoza says, "We’ve got folks from Florida, New York, Michigan, all over even the Western United States that come here to help us, and the community support the folks up there. So, it’s a huge effort."
WATCH: Behind the scenes tour of Twin Bridges fire camp setup
He says their goal is to protect people and their homes, adding that the local community has helped in their efforts.
"Wherever we go we know people need help, the community needs help. So, I think that’s what keeps people motivated. The public has been very appreciative and so I try to tell my firefighters that very thing and I think they do appreciate that," he says.
And, recognizing that incident command posts like this can be taxing local communities, Mendoza adds, "We don’t want to be here too long. We understand that it stresses out everything in town and so hopefully the weather cooperates, and we can get forces up there and get the fire contained and put to bed."
RELATED: UPDATE: The Bivens and Cloudrest Fires; Community information meeting tonight
