Nature Grove 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
- 15 Miles SE from Hamilton, MT
- Cause
- Natural
- Personnel
- 245
- Complexity
- Type 4 Incident
- Fuel
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- Behavior
- Minimal, Smoldering, Creeping, Backing
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · Federal land
Burning for 12 days in Ravalli County, Montana, the active Nature Grove Fire has spread across 1,422 acres at an average daily growth rate of approximately 119 acres per day. Located 15 miles southeast of Hamilton, the federally managed wildfire is burning in timber, litter, and understory on USFS land. The incident has accumulated $6,141,060 in costs and is currently being managed by a Type 3 Team with 345 personnel assigned to the Type 3 Incident.
Current fire behavior is characterized as minimal, smoldering, creeping, and backing, with zero percent containment reported so far. The fire, which started naturally on August 23, 2026, burns within a region that typically experiences its fire season from June to October. Nationally, 3,172,718 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 42% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Montana for 14 days. So far it has affected roughly 1,422 acres — about 5.8 km². Crews report no containment yet, so the fire can still spread.
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 3,185,593 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 42% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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