Seventy-six wildfires were reported on Thursday across nine western U.S. states, catching experts who had predicted a lighter year off guard.The flames cover almost 1.5 million acres of land, and so far, firefighters have only managed to contain one fire.Montana was hit especially hard, with a total of 21 fires reported, including one that covered more than 190,000 acres. Two firefighters, Trenton Johnson, 19, and Brent Whitham, 29, were killed trying to contain them.
Los Angeles saw its largest wildfire on record. The fire, referred to as La Tuna, has burned more than 7,000 acres and forced more than 700 residents to evacuate.Although the total number of fires this year compares to recent years, the sheer volume and size were unexpected due to heavy rainfall.