Black Bear Fire

Perimeter mapped August 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM MDT, 2,126 acres (mixed methods). Point of origin 46.168, -113.890.

Live radar at the fire Forecast for Hamilton

Size

2,126 acres

Containment

80%

Discovered

August 1, 2026 at 6:03 PM MDT

Cause

Natural

Location

15 Miles E from Hamilton, MT

County

Ravalli County

State

Montana

Nearest city reported

Hamilton

Protecting agency

USFS

Jurisdiction

USFS

Land ownership at origin

USFS

Personnel assigned

23

Incident management

Type 4 IC, Type 3 Incident

Primary fuel

Timber (Litter and Understory)

Estimated cost to date

$1,438,403

Incident type

Wildfire

Unique fire identifier

2026-MTBRF-000282

IRWIN identifier

98BCEEFD-1E76-40E6-9352-54FD64F60E7D

Mapped area at the last perimeter of each day, from August 2, 2026 (7 acres) to August 26, 2026 (2,126 acres). The largest one-day growth was 1,244 acres, mapped August 9, 2026.

• Wind up to 3 mph from the east
• Relative humidity as low as 47%
• High of 65°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, 10:00 AM MDT over the next 48 hours.

Smoke and fire layers on the radar

• Hamilton, MT14 miles northwest of the fire’s origin
• Stevensville, MT26 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Lolo, MT42 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Clinton, MT42 miles north of the fire’s origin
• Anaconda, MT45 miles east of the fire’s origin
• Orchard Homes, MT49 miles north of the fire’s origin