After two weeks fighting wildfires in Washington, five Montana Army National Guard soldiers returned to the Queen City in a twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook on Monday.

The unit was deployed earlier in August to aid fires that destroyed more than 900 structures in the Spokane area and displaced an estimated 60,000 people, including one fire started by an alleged arsonist.

Montana Army National Guard

Montana Army National Guard soldiers board a CH-47 Chinook Heavy-lift helicopter Aug. 11 ahead a two week mission to aid Washington firefighting efforts.

CHRISTINE COMPTON, Independent Record

Under orders issued by Gov. Greg Gianforte, the five soldier team from Montana launched Aug. 11 for a 13-day mission. Montana would join more than 20 states and 100 jurisdictions responding to the fire, requested by Washington’s governor via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Ahead of the mission, the soldiers practiced over a dozen bucket-drops, mission lead pilot Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Coleman said.

"(Helping people) is why a lot of us, if not all of us, join," he said on the mission.

Though it was possible another team would deploy to continue the mission another two weeks, the Chinook and team fully returned Monday at around 1 p.m.

As of Monday, there is no plan to send a second team, Senior Master Sgt. Devin Doskey said.

Independent Record editor Blair Miller and reporter Thom Bridge contributed to this report.

Christine Compton is a reporter for the Helena Independent Record.