wildfire

The Ratio Mountain wildfire began on Sunday, August 18th, 2024 and is located about 15 miles northwest of Whitehall, Montana.

There is a new wildfire burning about 7 miles northwest of Missoula and it's called the Butler Creek Fire. The fire is human-caused and crews are actively working to contain it in it's early stages.

Hazy skies have covered Montana for a couple of weeks, but where exactly is the wildfire smoke coming from? We've got the wildfire map of Montana, which shows what areas can expect the most smoke in the air.

Several smaller wildfires in Montana have now combined into over 31,000 acres of burning trees and brush in the southeast portion of the state. It's called the Deadman Fire, located north of the Tongue River Reservoir in Rosebud and Big Horn Counties.

The Miller Peak wildfire in Montana is burning eight miles south of Missoula and the cause is under investigation as of this writing. The size is estimated to be about 800 acres but that number is expected to be revised with better aerial pictures.

The human-caused Horse Gulch Fire in Montana, just north of Canyon Ferry, has grown substantially since it's start on July 9th. As of Friday morning, the latest update maps the size as 10,849 acres and 0% containment.

With the dry weather this year, take some time to read this guide on preparing for the worst case scenario this fire season.

Montana's lack of snowfall and our dangerously low snowpack levels are becoming the stuff of fire season nightmares. As the winter weeks go by, our 'percentages of normal' keep ticking lower - and that's not good news for this summer.

Crews are on the scene of a small wildland fire near Bozeman.

Literally every single county in Montana is under a Heat Advisory, a Red Flag Fire Weather Warning or both for on Wednesday. It's hot, dry and dangerous.

Currently, China and India have cleaner air than we do. Wildfire smoke got serious this weekend and Montana has some of the worst air quality on the entire planet right now when it comes to particulate matter. It's unhealthy in dozens of locations across the state.

Very dangerous wildfire conditions exist across the entire state, and this weekend will see record temperatures, erratic winds and dangerously low humidity. Existing wildfires will be difficult to contain and lightning could easily start new fires.