Southeast Montana Now Has a Really Enormous Wildfire

Several smaller wildfires in Montana have now combined into over 31,000 acres of burning trees and brush in the southeast portion of the state. It's called the Deadman Fire, located north of the Tongue River Reservoir in Rosebud and Big Horn Counties.

Numerous fires were ignited in southeast Montana by dry lightning on July 12th and 13th. The Deadman Fire and the Anderson Fire burned together on Sunday, now referred to as Deadman Fire.

The Prairie and Hackley grew together on Monday, now referred to as the Prairie Fire. The total combined acres for Deadman, McGhee, Prairie, and Four-Mile Fires is estimated at 31,102 acres.

• Current as of: Tuesday, 07/16/2024 at 10:30pm
• Incident Type: Wildfire
• Cause: Lightning
• Date of Origin: Friday, 07/12/2024 around 3:00am
• Location: Approximately 17 miles south of Birney and north of the Tongue River Reservoir, in Rosebud and Big Horn Counties
• Incident Commander: Northern Rockies Team 3, Incident Commander Mike Behrens
• Total Personnel: 160
• Size: 31,102 Acres
• Percent of Perimeter Contained: 0%
• Fuels Involved: Green Timber, grass, sage brush and snags

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"The most active fire is McGhee, pushing east and north towards Birney on Sunday night. On Monday, crews conducted successful burnouts along the north side and will continue strengthening those lines today.

South of Pyramid Butte on the east, the fire made a big push towards Hanging Woman Creek Monday afternoon. A grader improved lines along the eastern side while crews did burnout operations, supported by Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs) with retardant drops. An overnight shift worked to hold and improve the lines."

There is a little bit of positive news about this large fire - two of the fires that grew into the one large wildfire are in slightly better shape. Per the inciweb report:

"On the Four Mile Fire, firefighters are cooling the remaining hot spots and patrolling the edges. The Prairie Fire is showing little heat and is being monitored."