A 20-year resident of Bermuda used to dodging mid-Atlantic hurricanes thought life in Montana's Rocky Mountains might be just a little safer -- until this summer of drought and wildfires.

Former Trimingham's executive Constance Weeks, who now lives in Hamilton, Montana, told The Royal Gazette of her ordeal as thousands of firefighters battled to bring a raging inferno to heel -- only a few hundred yards from her town and home.

The fire, known as the Blodgett fire, burned 11,276 acres surrounding Hamilton, turning miles of vegetation into tinder.

And Ms Weeks praised a team of over 10,000 international firefighters who contained the flames that threatened the town.

"The real threat is the fireballs.'' she said over a crackling telephone line.

Balls of fire shoot from the flames, throwing hot material into occupied parts of town.

The US government declared the area a national disaster area and called in the National Guard and US Army.

Recently, rain and snow helped firefighters contain most of the flames, but 15 percent of the Blodgett fire continues to burn.

"The bad part is over. We're safe.'' Ms Weeks said she could watch from her front yard as firefighters fought the flames only a few hundred yards away.

Helicopters flew into town, hovered then dipped buckets into a pond before flying over the forest to douse the flames.

"Its been a wild ride. I have never seen anything like it. A new dimension to my relationship with `Mother Nature' after 20 years of `hurricane maintenance' in Bermuda.'' Approaching inferno: The Blodgett fire smoulders behind longtime Bermuda resident Constance Weeks, in her new home of Hamilton, Montana.

BERMUDIAN BDA