When West Yellowstone, Montana, was threatened with utter destruction by the historic and devastating 1988 Yellowstone wildfires, a drastic situation called for a drastic solution.

That turned out to be sprinklers and irrigation pipes — and some industrial explosives.

A truckload of detonating cord was discreetly delivered to the banks of the Madison River right inside the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park as part of a massive effort to save West Yellowstone from burning to the ground.

The National Park Service and its fire crews teamed up with Idaho farmers and local volunteers to drench a defensive perimeter around the gateway community to the nation’s first national park.

To stop the encroaching flames, they needed more water than the series of pipes and sprinklers they

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