Find the most recent daily update A cold front that swept across the state yesterday fanned several fires that threatened neighborhoods and entire towns. Most evacuated residents are now back in their homes. Damage reports are still incoming. Here's a recap of Montana’s biggest fire day yet in the 2020 season.

The Flathead National Forest released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement last week, moving one step closer to finalizing a 15-year logging and fire mitigation project in the Swan Valley. But critics say the Mid-Swan project, which covers an area larger than Flathead Lake, violates federal law due to the project's lack of specificity.

Thirty-plus years ago when I was studying wildlife management at Oregon State University, we learned that Ceanothus was a highly preferred forage plant for deer and elk during the winter. I knew that Ceanothus was the genus name of a large group of western shrubs and I even knew enough to recognize a few of the individual species back then.

Where there’s smoke, there’s not necessarily fire. Montana’s air quality rapidly deteriorated this week, but the vast majority of the wildfire smoke polluting the state’s air is coming from northern California. Researchers are increasingly concerned about the public health impacts of wildfire smoke. MTPR's Edward O’Brien introduces us to a Montana engineer who researched the efficacy and safety of an inexpensive and increasingly popular "do-it-yourself" home air-filtration system.

Air Quality is listed as “Moderate” and “Good” across western Montana this afternoon. That’s according to the Department of Environmental Quality. Smoke continues to blow into the state from massive wildfires burning in California. Fires burning in Idaho and Montana are also adding to the haze, according to modeling on the AIRPACT Map from Washington State University.

Smoke from California wildfires continues blanketing Montana and degrading its air quality. By mid-afternoon Tuesday 10 cities reported air quality that was "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups."

Air quality rapidly deteriorated this afternoon across much of Montana thanks to wildfire smoke. And that smoke is going to stick around for at least a few more days.

Fire crews in Missoula spent the day Friday mopping up the remnants of Thursday’s grass fire that scorched the face of Mount Sentinel just south of the University of Montana.

A wildfire that has blackened the base of Mount Sentinel east of the University of Montana is now 75 percent contained, according to a 9 p.m. update from UM. The fire is burning east of Pioneer Court along the hill’s southern edge. At least two helicopters were dumping buckets of water on the blaze. The fire's growth is stalled out for now, according to the Missoula fire chief.

The National Weather Service recorded at least 1,700 lighting strikes across the Northern Rockies last night and early this morning. Over 200 of them hit a hot and parched western Montana where fire danger is increasing.