Trucking company helps Mont. ranchers
CHERRY VALLEY — Altmire Trucking is collecting donations and planning to deliver several truckloads of hay to cattle ranchers in Montana who have been devastated by wildfires in recent months.
The people of Montana, South Dakota and other areas have been feeling the effects of wildfires since April.
About 40 different wildfires have burned more than 500,000 acres in Montana this summer, according to media reports.
A fire at the Lodgepole Complex earlier this summer in north-central Montana has been the worst, claiming more than 270,000 acres.
The fires in the west have been overshadowed in recent weeks by hurricanes in other regions, but the ranchers and residents in the west are in dire need too, said Terri Miller of Altmire.
“Ranchers are leaving their cattle loose to fend for themselves. Some are taking cattle to friends' places and using up their winter stash of hay,” Miller said.
Some of the employees of the company have family members in Montana and they are in touch with local relief efforts, who will help distribute the donations, she said.
They are planning to take the donations to the Jordan area in Montana.
The company has already received five truckloads of hay donated from local farms. Altmire is sending two tractor-trailer flatbeds and has arranged for two other trucks from local companies to take the hay.
A fifth truck is still needed and they will take more donations of hay and trucks before Sept. 23, when they plan to leave, Miller said.
Anyone who would like to donate hay or a truck to transport the hay, is asked to call Altmire at 724-791-2200.
The company is also collecting donations of money through a “PA for Montana Fire Victims” account set up at Farmer's National Bank in Eau Claire, P.O. Box E, Eau Claire, Pa., 16030. The donations are tax-deductible and will be collected through Oct. 31.
