More than 200 Kentucky Army National Guard troops and five helicopters are being deployed to help fight forest fires in eastern Kentucky, Guard officials said Friday.

        Forestry officials said there were 48 active fires in the area Friday, burning over about 5,100 acres. That is down from 64 fires burning over 13,000 acres on Thursday, forestry spokeswoman Gwen Holt said.

        Ms. Holt said firefighters on Friday had contained two fires covering more than 3,000 acres in Lawrence County.

        Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Phil Miller said the ground troops, divided into four 50-person crews, will receive their initial training from team leaders Saturday for deployment on Monday.

        “Fighting forest fires is a traditional Kentucky National Guard state active duty mission,” Col. Miller said. “This is something that we prepare for on an annual basis.”

        Division of Forestry spokeswoman Diana Olszowy said this fall fire season is so severe that several eastern and southeastern counties are under 24-hour burn bans.

        “Usually, you can have fires between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. when conditions aren't as bad,” Ms. Olszowy said. “But now there are no camp fires no burning leaves. Nothing.”

        The National Guard is conducting the firefighting mission under the direction of the Forestry Division, so officials aren't sure how long the troops will be deployed.

        “We're there until they don't need us anymore,” Col. Miller said.

        The guard will also be joined by two dozen Florida wildland firefighters and engines, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said in a statement. The Florida firefighters will stay in Pikeville and Hazard for up to two weeks.

        Kentucky troops in helicopters were expected to arrive at the Hazard airport Friday, Col. Miller said.

        Guard Public Affairs Officer David W. Altom said the guard will use three UH-60 Blackhawk and two OH-58 Kiowa helicopters on the mission.

        The Blackhawks will be rigged with 660-gallon “Bambi buckets” to douse the flames from above, while the Kiowas are smaller observation and control choppers used to oversee the mission, Mr. Altom said.

        Col. Miller said the Blackhawks, usually occupied by three soldiers, will carry four each for the firefighting mission.

        “These buckets are suspended beneath the aircraft by cables and it takes four pairs of eyes to clear the aircraft,” Col. Miller said. “You're dealing with some drastically rising terrain so it takes four sharp sets of eyes to fill the bucket, keep the aircraft out of power lines and trees and to empty the bucket on the target.”

        Gov. Paul Patton said eastern Kentucky is at greater risk for forest fires than usual because of the vast expanses of pine trees that have been killed by an invasion of the southern pine beetle.

        “We've got these dead trees standing, and once they catch fire they just burn violently,” Mr. Patton told WKYT-TV.

        Arson is also a leading contributor to the fires, Ms. Olszowy said.

        Two 18-year-old men were arrested Thursday and charged with arson in connection with forest fires in Clay County.

        The men were charged with three counts of arson in connection with fires in the Mud Lick area.

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