Cherry Peak 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
- 11 Miles SE from Thompson Falls, MT
- Cause
- Natural
- Personnel
- 108
- Complexity
- Type 3 Incident
- Fuel
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- Behavior
- Minimal, Creeping, Single Tree Torching
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · Federal land
Spanning six days of active burning and averaging approximately 33 acres of daily spread, the Cherry Peak Fire continues to hold a 44 percent containment level in Sanders County, Montana. Located 11 miles southeast of Thompson Falls, the incident covers 200 acres within a federal landscape managed by the USFS. Fire behavior on the ground is currently characterized as minimal and creeping, with occasional single tree torching fueled by timber, litter, and understory.
A Type 3 Incident supported by a Type 3 Team, the operation brings together a dedicated force of 115 personnel working to secure the perimeter. Suppressing the blaze has accumulated a cost of $2,931,106 as crews navigate the terrain to reinforce containment lines against the active fire status.
This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Across the country, 2,993,191 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 45 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Montana for 8 days. In total it burned about 200 acres — around 0.8 km².
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.
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