Black Bear Fire

Ravalli County, Montana · Wildfire

Started inside the Bitterroot National Forest boundary.

Contained Official numbers updated Oct 20, 2026 (11 days ago)

First reported about 3 months ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	2,145 acres Aug 17, 11:00 AM	2,126 acres Oct 31, 6:00 AM −19 acres was 2,145 acres · Aug 17, 11:00 AM	−19 acres in 2 months
Containment	80% Oct 15, 3:00 PM	100% Oct 31, 6:00 AM +20 percent was 80% · Oct 15, 3:00 PM	+20 percent in 16 days
Crew size	23 Oct 15, 3:00 PM	1 Oct 31, 6:00 AM −22 was 23 · Oct 15, 3:00 PM	−22 in 16 days
Money spent	$1.3M Sep 5, 6:00 PM	$1.4M Oct 31, 6:00 AM +$138,680 was $1.3M · Sep 5, 6:00 PM	+$138,680 in about 2 months

Black Bear Fire summary

The Black Bear Fire is a wildfire near Ravalli County, Montana. It has burned about 2,126 acres (about 2,000 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 3 months ago. About 1 people are on it, run by a Type 5 IC. We're also tracking 4 other active fires within about 75 miles.

Size: 2,126 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: August 2, 2026 (first reported about 3 months ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Saturday, October 31st at 6:00 a.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what a specific fire will do.

	Day	Night
Overnight	—	33°F · Mostly Cloudy Wind 0 mph · 4% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Saturday	40°F · Patchy Fog then Mostly Cloudy Wind 2 mph SSW · 11% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	33°F · Patchy Fog Wind 1 mph SE · 35% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain
Sunday	35°F · Light Snow Wind 0 to 3 mph WNW · 92% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Rain likely	28°F · Light Snow Likely Wind 0 to 6 mph NNW · 72% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Rain likely

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Saturday, October 31st at 6:01 a.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

12° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

Trees with brush underneath (TU5)

Heavy forest litter with shrubs or small trees underneath, in a dry climate. Fire moves at a moderate pace, with medium-height flames.

55% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

7,836 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 3:48 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 1 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 5 IC. The government rates it a Type 3 Incident. About $1 million has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.

Where to get live updates

We show the daily official picture. For minute-by-minute updates, evacuation orders, and maps, these do it best:

→ Watch Duty: real-time fire reporting and evacuations.
→ InciWeb: the government's official fire information site.

Nearby fires to Black Bear Fire

Within about 75 miles we're tracking 4 other active fires, closest first:

See all active fires in Montana →

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