Started on Jul 29, 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
Active fires nearby1 · 100 km
Quick facts
- Location
- 15 miles west of Olney, MT
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 93 people
- Complexity
- Type 3 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
- MinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Smoldering — 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 litter and understory on federal land managed by the USFS, the Skillet Fire 15 miles west of Olney, Montana, has burned 3,414 acres over 38 days of activity, averaging approximately 90 acres per day. The natural-caused fire is now 100 percent contained and exhibiting minimal, creeping, smoldering, and backing behavior.
A Type 3 Incident managed by a Type 3 Team with 93 personnel assigned brought the fire to full containment, accumulating a total cost of $24,325,286 in Lincoln County. Across the country, a total of 3,178,795 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 42 percent below the two-decade average during a typical fire season that runs from June to October.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Montana for 57 days. So far it has affected roughly 3,414 acres — about 14 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
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 3,270,726 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 40% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
We'll email you if it grows, if it gets more contained, or if it goes out.
At most one alert every 6 hours, and only when something changes.
No account. One-click unsubscribe. · Privacy
Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Be the first to report what is happening →
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
More fires in Montana
- Beaver Creek FireEnded
- Griffin FireEnded
- Snow FireContained
- Pine Creek FireEnded
- Big Buffalo FireEnded
- Slough Grass FireEnded