Montana Wildfire News

As wildfire season heats up across Montana, it can be hard know where to find reliable, up-to-date information. Here's a rundown of the kind of sources, tools and verification we use when covering wildfires — and you can use them too.

An unusually dry winter fueled expectations of a long and active fire season throughout the Northern Rockies. Fire experts, however, say the reality may be more nuanced than that.

It’s wildfire season. Rural communities and those on the outskirts of urban centers face greater danger than others. New research urges homeowners and state officials to rethink how they mitigate risk for those areas.

Montana will soon launch a program to better protect residents from wildfire smoke.

The Flathead National Forest is reopening more of the Hungry Horse Reservoir to the public as recent rains have helped firefighters contain wildfires in the area.

There were 24 active large fire incidents in the state as of Tuesday morning. Multiple regions in the state are using significant firefighting resources as the state remains in level 3 preparedness.

Rain has slowed the spread of the River Road East Fire that has burned down structures and more than 16,000 acres near the town of Paradise.

The Flathead County Sheriff Friday afternoon issued a new mandatory evacuation order for the 3,000 acre East Fork Fire burning approximately 12 miles outside of Trego, MT. A new fire burning across the river from Paradise is being pushed by strong winds. Highway 200 is closed from Plains to Highway 135 due to the fire activity.

Record setting high temperatures and gusty winds created a dramatic increase in fire activity in western Montana Tuesday. However, much of the increased activity was inside containment lines of existing fires. High water temperatures prompted Montana wildlife officials to implement hoot-owl restrictions on the lower Madison River starting Aug. 16.

Extreme heat and critical fire conditions are forecast through Thursday. Meteorologists say records could be shattered this week.