Started on Sep 10, 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
- Big Horn County
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Burning across private land in Big Horn County, Montana, the active Cottonwood Creek Fire has scorched 456 acres since it started on September 10, 2026. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.
Nationwide, the broader wildfire landscape shows 3,201,049 hectares burned so far in 2026, tracking 42% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Montana for 1 day. In total it burned about 456 acres — around 1.8 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 3,347,504 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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