Eastern Washington is burning. Wildfires have gripped the western United States on a scale not seen for some time. Thousands of emergency personnel are working around the clock to staunch the flames. Among them are members of the U.S. Army.

The Washington National Guard has played an important role providing air and logistical support, as well as providing troops to fight the fires themselves. Even active-duty troops are providing support - 200 members of the 17th Field Artillery got tapped last week to join the fray. It's the first time since 2006 troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord have been called up to fight fires.

Many are battling the Okanogan Complex Fire, which has become the largest fire in Washington state history at 280,267 acres as of August 26.

Sgt. Annie Parish, a medic with the Guard's 81st Brigade Combat Team has been at the Okanogan fairgrounds - currently the incident response headquarters - since Aug. 19th giving first aid to both firefighters and contractors fighting the blaze and civilians fleeing the flames. Mostly she's worked on foot injuries. "Just like with infantry, these people are working on their feet and preserving their feet is the best way to preserve the firefighting force," she said.

But she's also seen some more challenging cases, including a local teenager with head lacerations incurred while trying to save the families' animals from the flames. Some have been bizarre. "The other night we pulled a moth out of some guy's ear - that was pretty exciting."

About an hour north in the small town of Loomis, members of the 506th Military Police detachment are keeping watch over the flames. As of writing this article, Loomis is on a Level 2 evacuation notice. If the flames continue toward settlements, the town will go to Level 3 - and the troops will begin evacuating local residents.

The MP's operate out of town. It's a remote mountain town with a population of between 120-150 people and cellphone service is spotty. The soldiers have relied on the locals for wi-fi and landlines to keep communication lines open.

"They're willing to stick their necks out for us and make us feel like part of the family," said Staff Sgt. David Vinton. "So you want to fight for your family and we want to stay here."

The small community is incredibly tight-knit. Many of the families have owned farms and ranches for generations. As a result, many of them may not want to evacuate. "We're telling people to leave their lives behind - it's not easy," said Sgt. Travis Pope. "It can get emotional."

But the soldiers intend to stay as long as they can and save as many people as possible should the worst happen. Vinton has deployed to Iraq twice, but for him, fighting the fire has special significance. "We're actually losing something here; we're actually losing our own land," he said. "(There's) a greater sense of pride; we're saving our own people's lives."

"Not saying one life is worth more than the other, but when you're fighting on your homeland, you fight harder."

JBLM in the fight
Soldiers from JBLM's 5th Battalion (HIMARS), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, also finished up training this week to join the fire lines.

"Our battalion received orders and is prepared to mobilize approximately two hundred soldiers in support of the National Interagency Fire Center's efforts," said Lt. Col. James Dunwoody, commander of the 5-3 FA.

The soldiers are broken into 10 crews consisting of 20 soldiers each.

"We are following the firefighters who are professionally trained and assisting them," said Sgt. Michael Nazarko, a multiple launch rocket system crewman with 5-3 FA. "They basically go through an area and put out the main fire, and what we do is if there is anything still smoldering, we make sure it doesn't flare back up."

"We tend to do a lot of different things (in the Army), said Nazarko, a Lyndhurst, New Jersey, native. "I've done firefinder radar operator, 13 Mike (artillery) missions, and now a firefighting mission."

"That's why I love the job," he added. "We get to do our job and everything else."

With the Tower Wildfire burning more than 10,000 acres of forest in northeastern Washington over the last week, these JBLM soldiers cannot get to the front lines quick enough, and to make this happen, they are completing training that is setting the stage for future operations.

After arriving late the previous night, the soldiers hit training first thing during the morning of Aug. 23, as they set out to not only learn tactics that will help them suppress the wildfires, but also help protect land sacred to the tribe of the Kalispel Indian Reservation.

"We have got the troops engaged in a training exercise that's also a benefit for the tribe," said Jay Karle, military crew advisor for soldiers of Task Force First Round. "These (soldiers) are working hard at putting in an indirect fireline around a sacred burial site."

Knowing that the training also had real-world implications made it all the more important for the soldiers.

"This is something that we want to do and it is important because we want to let the civilians know that we are there whenever they need us," said Pfc. Terra Begay, a strike team member assigned to Task Force First Round. "We are here to protect our country any way that we can."

The advisors are implementing training that will keep the soldiers continuing to hone their skills and see the soldiers improving by the day.

"I think it's great; they are a great resource," said Kearn. "These (soldiers) are driven, they are motivated; they are fit; they are organized; they are disciplined; so it is an easy transition for them to come over here and be firefighters."

Besides receiving training and providing support to the community, the soldiers know that being here will provide a much needed boost to the firefighters on the frontline.

"By doing this, it helps those that are already out there fighting fires," said Begay, a native of Holbrook, Arizona. "They don't have to come and (dig firelines); we will already have it done for them so they don't get over exhausted. They are already working long days and we just want to give them somewhat of a rest."

With very little time before soldiers get to the frontlines, the time available now has to be taken advantage of.

"Let's have it be useful," said Karle, a native of Woodland Park, Colorado. These fires have impacted the people in this area pretty severely. Protecting some of these resources, this is what it is all about - the things that are irreplaceable."

Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Porch, and Staff Sgt. Patricia McMurphy, 28th PAD contributed to this report