Montana wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Montana?

Montana averages about 11 wildfire records a year since 2000, 11th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2012 (36). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Montana records 18 wildfire records since 1996, 18th of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64
11. 18. Montana 18

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Montana have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Lewis and Clark County leads Montana: 31 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 9.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Beaverhead County has the most wildfire records (33 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Lewis and Clark County 9.0 (32)
2. Stillwater County 8.3 (16)
3. Broadwater County 6.7 (10)
4. Gallatin County 6.5 (21)
5. Teton County 6.2 (14)
6. Jefferson County 6.0 (12)
7. Sweet Grass County 5.9 (13)
8. Carbon County 5.9 (13)
9. Beaverhead County 5.1 (33)
10. Judith Basin County 4.3 (8)
11. Park County 3.9 (15)
12. Madison County 3.6 (16)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is fire season in Montana?

65% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is August (100 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest wildfire records in Montana?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest wildfire records in Montana

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in Montana?

Montana's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in Montana

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in Montana

FEMA has declared 68 disasters in Montana for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 3 were major disasters, the latest on August 14, 2026.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Lewis and Clark County: the county's whole recordThe Montana county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in MontanaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Winter storms in Montana8,475 records
• Hail in Montana8,391 records
• High wind and dust storms in Montana7,814 records