by Susan L. Williams

In southeastern Montana near Cardwell, where a 6,400-acre wildfire was burning on June 27, the Indiana University Geologic Field Station is lending a hand to firefighters and landowners. According to a story in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the field station is serving as a staging area for firefighting crews. Some local landowners, who allow IU students studying the area’s geology to come onto their property, also are making use of the field station. They are keeping animals and vehicles there for now. The IU students scheduled to arrive at the field station this weekend have been relocated until things cool down. Firefighters said in the newspaper story that field station facilities are fairly “defensible,” as they are in a relatively open area. For more information on the IU Geologic Field Station, and a video of firefighting activities there, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~iugfs/.