Bobcat Lakes Fire (Montana)
True color
Fire (SWIR)
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire
Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.
Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).
Quick facts
- Location
- 12 Miles E from Wisdom, MT
- Personnel
- 1
- Complexity
- Type 3 Incident
- Fuel
- Timber (Grass and Understory)
- Behavior
- Minimal, Backing, Creeping, Smoldering
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · Federal land
Burning for 35 days across 10,850 acres of federal timber and grass understory, the active Bobcat Lakes Fire continues to see steady spread near Wisdom, Montana, averaging approximately 310 acres per day. Currently managed by a Complex Incident Management Team as a Type 3 Incident with 3 personnel assigned, the fire exhibits minimal, backing, creeping, and smoldering behavior.
Located 12 miles east of Wisdom in Beaverhead County, the incident is managed by the USFS, with costs totaling $12,677,806. While the fire is 61 percent contained, it burns against the backdrop of the region's typical fire season which spans from June to October.
Nationwide, the broader fire landscape shows 3,172,718 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 42% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Montana for 37 days. So far it has affected roughly 10,850 acres — about 44 km². About 61% of the perimeter is contained — over half is secured, though hotspots remain.
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.
The bigger picture in United States
Across United States, roughly 3,178,795 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 42% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
We'll email you if it grows, containment advances, or it ends.
No account. One-click unsubscribe. · Privacy
Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Be the first to report what is happening →
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
More fires in Montana
- Ten Mile FireEnded
- Windmill FireContained
- Deer Creek FireActive
- Pine Creek FireEnded
- Ayers Pond FireActive
- Roe 2 FireContained