Now massive wildfires rage from California to as far north as Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula near the Canadian border and all the way across to the Northern Rockies. Smoke and haze fill the air, darkening what would usually be crystal clear skies.

As of Aug. 24 the National Interagency Fire Center reports there are 72 large fires in the United States consuming 1,641,777 acres. There are currently 27,000 people working around the clock to stop the fires. Close to a thousand of them are soldiers. MORE