HAMILTON, Mont. (AP) - Hundreds of people were forced out of their homes Monday in southwestern Montana as thousands of acres of forest went up in flames, making it the hot spot of wildfires across the West. At least two thousand homes had been destroyed in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, south of Missoula, and residents were warned that more could be burned. And in another focus of firefighters' efforts, authorities called for more help Monday battling a 5,000-acre blaze at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. That fire had crept to within several hundred yards of ancient cliff dwellings and within a mile of a center housing 2 million Southwestern artifacts. There were 65 major fires active Monday that had blackened about 826,800 acres in 11 states, according to the National Fire Information Center in Boise, Idaho. Several blazes in Idaho and Montana will probably not be out until the snow flies, Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck said Monday. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise sent a team to begin training another battalion of Army troops at Ford Hood, Texas, for deployment to the fire lines in the West, and Dombeck predicted they would not be the last. "Our fire season could be another two months, maybe a little longer," Dombeck said after meeting for several hours with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne at the fire center. Montana's Bitterroot Valley was ground zero for firefighters Monday. The biggest fires in the valley had burned across more than 73,000 acres. "This is the most awesome fire I've ever experienced," said Jody Eberly, a 20-year Forest Service veteran of fighting Western fires. Some evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Bitterroot's Pinesdale area Monday morning - but only to obtain belongings. Hundreds of people had been told to evacuate last week in the Bitterroot Valley and scores more were ordered out Sunday near Sula, where two homes burned. A firefighters' camp in Sula, about 30 miles south of Hamilton, had to be moved and flames destroyed a caterer's tent. Some, like Al and Nola Grisso, refused to let the threat force them out. "We wouldn't leave unless we absolutely had to," Al Grisso said from his log home with a U.S. flag in front. Standing on the porch, he could see smoke. Steve Frye, commander of the firefighting effort in Bitterroot Valley, said people who ignored evacuation orders sere "on their own". "These aren't the kinds of fires we're going to run in front of and stop," Frye said on Sunday. Frye also said that containment is a "low, distant, third priority." Firefighters top priorities were protecting lives and buildings, he told residents, and there was little doubt more buildings would be destroyed. Some 1,200 firefighters were on the scene in Bitterroot Valley and state officials said more than 850 houses and other buildings were threatened. In southwestern Colorado, the Mesa Verde fire had blackened 5,000 acres by Monday. Its acreage had not increased during the night but temperatures in the 90s were forecast Monday with little chance of rain. "We've been very lucky, but we're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination," said fire spokesman Joe Colwell. It was the second fire to close the park this summer. Last month, a wildfire charred 23,000 acres but did not damage the Indian dwellings, although officials warned that heat could damage sandstone. The park was reopened Friday, then closed a few hours later when new fire spread into the preserve.