Montgomery Draw Fire, Gillitte, Wyoming

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location15 miles northwest of Gillitte, WY

CauseHuman

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimal

ComplexityType 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$20,000

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

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.

Wind Driven Runs

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.

The story so far

Summary written on Aug 10, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning through private lands in Campbell County, the Montgomery Draw Fire near Gillitte, Wyoming, has achieved full containment after a four-day campaign. Having started on August 6, 2026, the human-caused blaze consumed 536 acres of short grass averaging one foot in height. Across its progression, the fire maintained an approximate average daily growth of 134 acres.

Current fire behavior is reported as minimal, allowing a 19-person crew operating under a Type 4 Incident management and Type 4 IC to secure the perimeter and reach 100 percent containment. Suppression efforts for the incident accrued a total cost of $20,000.

This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which spans from June to October. On a broader scale, the fire contributes to a national total of 2,761,076 hectares burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 50 percent below the two-decade average.