Bear Gulch Fire

Perimeter mapped September 2, 2026 at 7:15 PM MDT, 32 acres (ir image interpretation). Point of origin 46.126, -113.921.

Live radar at the fire Forecast for Hamilton

Size

10 acres

Containment

Not reported

Discovered

August 25, 2026 at 8:31 PM MDT

Cause

Natural

County

Ravalli County

State

Montana

Protecting agency

USFS

Jurisdiction

USFS

Land ownership at origin

USFS

Incident management

Type 5 Incident

Incident type

Wildfire

Unique fire identifier

2026-MTBRF-000356

IRWIN identifier

63932E6B-7D91-40CE-93B1-A85BC1CE9E10

Mapped area at the last perimeter of each day, from August 26, 2026 (2 acres) to September 3, 2026 (32 acres). The largest one-day growth was 25 acres, mapped September 3, 2026.

• Wind up to 5 mph from the south-southeast
• Relative humidity as low as 38%
• High of 64°F

National Weather Service hourly forecast for the fire’s point of origin, next 24 hours.

Full forecast for Hamilton, MT

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches covering the fire's point of origin.

No Red Flag Warning or Fire Weather Watch is in force at the fire.

NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System analysts have not drawn smoke over the fire’s origin today.

NOAA’s smoke model forecasts near-surface smoke at the origin peaking at 0.3 µg/m³ around Sun, 2:00 PM MDT over the next 48 hours.

Smoke and fire layers on the radar

• Hamilton, MT14 miles northwest of the fire’s origin
• Stevensville, MT28 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Lolo, MT44 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Clinton, MT46 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Anaconda, MT47 miles east of the fire’s origin
• Orchard Homes, MT51 miles north of the fire’s origin