The summer of 1988 was the driest in Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history. Dry fuels and high winds combined to spread 248 fires in the greater Yellowstone area. On the worst single day, fire gobbled up more than 150,000 acres.By November, when winter snows finally extinguished the last of the blazes, more than 25,000 firefighters had tackled them, at a total cost around $120 million.One of those firefighters was Stuart Andersen, co-owner with wife Kobi Andersen of Andersen Sewer Service in Billings, Mont. Though the destructive fires threatened many lives and properties, they were also responsible for the birth of
