Name: Wildfire in Montana, August 19, 2001
Start: 2001-08-19T00:01
End: 2001-08-19T00:01
Location: Montana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 3
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 10:41 PM MST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 10:41 PM MST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1141 PM MDT SAT AUG 18 2001

.SUN AND MON...
WILL HAVE TO DO AN UPDATE MAINLY FOR THE EASTERN ZONES. CONVECTION HAS
FIRED UP THERE AND PROBABLY WILL LAST THROUGH THE NIGHT. WILL ALSO RAISE
THE POPS A BIT AS SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE WET. CHB

.TUE...WED...THU...FRI...SAT...
OVERALL TRANSITION OF THE EXTENDED MODELS INTO A WEST-SOUTHWEST FLOW
PATTERN FOR THE FORECAST AREA LOOKS INTACT AS A NEW NORTHEAST PACIFIC
WILL ENCOUNTER LESS RIDGING OVER THE WEST THAN THE LAST SYSTEM. BY
TUESDAY AFTERNOON...THE UPPER LOW IS PROGGED TO BE NEAR 50N-135W AND A
WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGE IS PROGGED OVER THE STATE. HOWEVER...WITH A THETA
E RIDGE LINGERING OVER EASTERN MONTANA AND A WEAK WAVE MOVING THROUGH
THE RIDGE...THE MODEL CONTINUE TO HAVE CONVECTION DEVELOP OVER EASTERN
MONTANA LATE TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. AS THE RIDGE AXIS PUSHES EAST
FOR WEDNESDAY SOUTHWEST FLOW BEGINS TO STRONGLY INFLUENCE THE STATE
BUT THE AIRMASS LOOKS TO BE A BIT DRIER WITH CONVECTION LESS FAVORED. BY
THIS TIME PERIOD...THE NEW AVN THIS MORNING IS SHOWING THE UPPER LOW
ALONG THE BC COAST AT THE SAME LATITUDE AS LAST NIGHTS MRF BUT A BIT
FURTHER EAST. THUS THE PATTERN IS A BIT MORE DIFFLUENT THAN LAST
NIGHTS RUN BUT WITH MOISTURE LACKING WEDNESDAY CONTINUES TO LOOK MAINLY
DRY. DEEPER MOISTURE IS PROGGED TO STAY CLOSER TO THE TROUGH AXIS WITH
THIS NEXT SYSTEM AND DEEP ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR PRECIPITATION DOES NOT
APPEAR TO RETURN TO THE AREA UNTIL FRIDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES LOOK
GOOD WITH THE CURRENT PACKAGE. BORSUM.

    SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 059/085 055/088 053/088 053/085 050/080 050/076 050/076
    10/B    00/B    22/B    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
LVM 054/081 054/086 057/086 057/082 052/080 052/075 052/075
    10/B    00/B    22/B    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
HDN 057/087 053/090 051/090 051/087 051/080 051/076 051/076
    10/B    00/B    22/B    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
MLS 059/087 056/089 053/090 055/087 053/082 053/077 053/077
    22/W    02/T    33/T    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
4BQ 054/085 052/087 054/088 050/085 048/081 048/076 048/076
    22/W    02/T    33/T    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
BHK 057/084 054/086 051/087 053/084 051/080 051/075 051/075
    22/W    02/T    33/T    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T
SHR 055/085 050/089 050/087 048/085 046/080 046/076 047/076
    20/B    00/B    22/B    22/B    22/T    33/T    33/T

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Park

When: August 19, 12:01 AM MST
Where: Park County, 12 mi SW of Livingston
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 45.488, -110.526 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Fridley Fire--Gallatin National ForestDate Started: August 19, 2001Cause of Ignition: LightningLocation: 12 miles southwest of Livingston, MontanaSize: 26,373 acres; 12 miles long, and 3 to 5 miles wideContained: September 13th, 2001Number of Personnel: 1,261 totalAircraft: 15 helicoptersEquipment: 46 engines; 2 bulldozers; 2 timber forwarders modified for firefightingCost: $11.4 millionDeaths: Shortly after 9:00 am on the morning of August 31, 2001, a Kawasaki Vertol 107-II helicopter assigned to the Fridley fire went down, resulting in three fatalities. The aircraft was on a maintenance check flight several miles east of the fire perimeter.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5264471.