Started on Aug 25, 2026.
United States todayLive
True view
Fire view
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now
Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.
Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus
Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS
Quick facts
- Location
- 22 miles southwest of Conner, MT
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 1 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · Federal land
Glossary: what each term means
Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.
Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Spreads with low, steady flames.
Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.
Fast and unpredictable.
Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
Grows along the sides, not head-on.
Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.
Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.
Whole trees flaring up like torches.
Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.
Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.
The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.
The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.
Burning across timber with litter and understory on federal land managed by the USFS, the Cooper Fire in Idaho has spent 24 days active since its natural ignition on August 25, 2026. Located 22 miles southwest of Conner, Montana, the incident has averaged approximately 15 acres of growth per day over its lifespan, ultimately reaching a final size of 354 acres.
With behavior currently characterized as minimal, smoldering, and backing, the Type 4 incident is now 100 percent contained. Management of the fire is overseen by a Type 4 IC with a minimal personnel footprint of just one individual and a cumulative cost of $1,000.
This fire occurs against a broader national backdrop where 3,243,965 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, tracking 41 percent below the two-decade average. Wildfires in this region typically occur during a seasonal window spanning from June to October.
In context
This wildfire burned in Idaho for 28 days. In total it burned about 354 acres — around 1.4 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 3,394,363 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 38% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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