I found this list a bit eye-opening: these are the fires currently burning in the state of Montana. Finding out that more than 1,500 fires this year have burned 937 square miles in Montana is a little hard to swallow. Currently there are about 23 major fires.

Someone posted on Facebook, and I'm not sure this is exactly the number, but they say 911,869 acres have burned in Montana since July 15th this year. A friend shared this statistic yesterday.

KHQ reporter Nichole Mischke wrote an article that laid out all of the western wildfires in Washington, Idaho and Montana. This was the list for Montana on their website:

  • Adair Peak Fire (9/4 2:30 p.m.) - Began August 12th from lightning. Burning 18 miles N/NW of West Glacier, MT. 1,330 acres have burned.
  • Alice Creek Fire (9/4 2:06 p.m.) - Began July 22nd by lightning. Burning 16 miles northeast of Lincoln, MT. 17,480 Acres.
  • Blue Bay Fire (9/3 8:08a.m.) - Began August 10th from lightning. Burning 10 miles NE of Polson, MT. 490 acres have burned and the fire is 80% contained.
  • Caribou Fire (9/4 8:30 a.m.) - Began Augsut 11th from lightning. Burning 18 miles NW of Eureka, MT. 15,142 acres have burned.
  • Conrow Fire (9/1 4:57p.m.) - Began August 25th from lightning. Burning 7 miles NE of Whitehall, MT. 2,727 acres have burned and the fire is 95% contained.
  • Crucifixion Creek Fire (9/4 10:21 a.m.) - Began August 10th by lightning. Burning in the Badger Two Medicine area. 7,604 acres have burned and the fire is 1% contained.
  • Dolly Varden Fire (9/2 2:25 p.m.) - Started August 15th by lightning. Burning near Dolly Varden Creek and Chair Mountain in the Great Bear Wilderness. 185 acres have burned.
  • East Fork Fire (9/4 8:11 a.m.) - Began August 27th and the cause is under investigation. Burning south of Harve, MT. 21,103 acres have burned and the fire is 40% contained.
  • Highway 200 Complex Fire (9/3 8:34 p.m.) - Began August 28th from lightning. Burning along the Highway 200 Corridor near Thompson Falls, MT. 8,285 acres have burned.
  • Gibralter Fire (9/4 8:31 a.m.) - Began August 7th from lightning. Burning 7 miles E. of Eureka, MT. 6,966 acres have burned and the fire is 27% contained.
  • Liberty Fire (9/4 8:42 a.m.) - Began July 15th from lightning. Burning 17 Miles SE of Arlee Montana in the South Fork Primitive Area. 21,388 acres have burned and the fire is 17% contained.
  • Lolo Peak Fire (9/4 5:48 a.m.) - Began July 15th from lightning. Burning 10 miles SW of Lolo, MT. 45,012 acres have burned and the fire is 31% contained.
  • Meyers Fire (9/4 1:02 p.m.) - Began July 14th from lightning. Burning 25 miles SW of Philipsburg, MT. 53,737 acres have burned and the fire is 5% contained.
  • Monohan Fire (9/3 12:58p.m.) - Began July 16th from lightning. Burning in Powell County. 2,523 acres have burned.
  • Nelson Creek Fire (9/4 9:12 a.m.) - Began August 28th from an unknown cause. Burning in the Nelson Creek area. 276 acres have burned and the fire is 45% contained.
  • Park Creek Fire (9/4 7:55 a.m.) - Began July 14th from lightning. Burning 2 miles N. of Lincoln, MT. 14,985 acres have burned and it is 56% contained.
  • Reef Fire (9/3 1:00 p.m.) - Began August 13th from lightning. Burning near Count Peak in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. 2,515 acres have burned.
  • Rice Ridge Fire (9/4 9:26 a.m.) - Began July 24th from lightning. Burning north and east of Seeley Lake, MT. 101,424 acres have burned and the fire is 7% contained.
  • Sapphire Complex Fire (9/3 8:34 p.m.) - Began July 13th by lightning. Burning 25 miles east of Missoula, south of I-90 in the Rock Creek drainage. 41,904 acres have burned and it's 53% contained.
  • Sartin Draw Fire (9/3 6:11a.m.) - Began August 30th from natural causes. Burning 20 miles NE of Ashland. 99,735 acres have burned and the fire is 85% contained.
  • Scalp Fire: Began August 14th. 10,138 acres have burned and it's 0% contained.
  • Sheep Gap Fire (9/4 5:34 a.m.) - Began August 29th from lightning. Burning south of the Clark Fork River, East of Thompson Falls Montana. 4,668 acres have burned.
  • Sprague Fire (9/4 7:00 a.m.) - August 10th by lightning. Burning 9 miles NE of West Glacier, MT. 9,403 acres have burned and it's 35% contained.
  • Strawberry Fire (9/4 2:41 p.m.) - Began August 25th from lightning. Burning 8 miles Southwest of Swift Reservoir on the Flathead National Forest in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. 919 acres have burned.
  • West Fork Fire (9/3 11:21a.m.) - Began August 30th from lightning. Burning 7 miles NW of Libby, MT. 800 acres have burned.
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