MISSOULA — Montana is known for its wildfires, whether across the eastern prairie or in the rugged mountain terrain, but it's where Missoula's smokejumpers go — reaching hard-to-reach locations within hours.

"The door comes open and it's very loud in there and you get a briefing the spotter and then it just you just rely on your training," says Tyson Atkinson, a Missoula smokejumper, remembering his first jump 15 years ago.

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When a wildfire is in rough terrain, smokejumpers like Atkinson respond to fires aerially. Jumping out of a fixed-wing aircraft into the smoke.

"We do our best to manage the fire how the folks want it managed on the ground and put it

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