Putting politics mostly aside, lawmakers on Wednesday budgeted $82 million to pay the state's fire bills this year and next.

The session, called last week so lawmakers could set aside money for firefighting, ended collegially Wednesday evening after little more than 10 hours. The House formally adjourned at 6:15.

The final package looked like this:

Lawmakers set aside $39 million to go to the state's main firefighting agency, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, to cover this year's firefighting bill. They set aside another $3 million for the Department of Military Affairs to pay that agency's firefighting tab.

Additionally, lawmakers created a new $40 million account to pay firefighting costs in the future. The state won't be able to touch that account until next July. Initially intended as a permanent solution to the way Montana pays its fire tab, the bill was later changed to expire at the end of next year. In the meantime, lawmakers will study how the firefighting account worked and revisit the issue in the 2009 Legislature.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer called lawmakers into a special session last week, saying the state didn't have enough money easily on hand to pay the state's fire season bill. So far, the state's share of the firefighting bill is about $40 million, estimates show. The state had $16 million on hand to pay for fires and other emergencies, although lawmakers left close to $200 million unspent when they wrote the state budget in May.