Rattlesnake Complex

Prairie County, Montana · Complex (group of fires)

No longer active Official numbers updated Sep 8, 2026 (about 1 month ago)

First reported about 6 weeks ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	15,611 acres Sep 7, 6:00 PM	15,582 acres Oct 19, 4:00 PM −29 acres was 15,611 acres · Sep 7, 6:00 PM	−29 acres in about 1 month
Containment	97% Sep 8, 5:00 PM	100% Oct 19, 4:00 PM +3 percent was 97% · Sep 8, 5:00 PM	+3 percent in about 1 month
Crew size	114 Sep 8, 5:00 PM	60 Oct 19, 4:00 PM −54 was 114 · Sep 8, 5:00 PM	−54 in about 1 month
Money spent	$3.3M Sep 8, 5:00 PM	$3.5M Oct 19, 4:00 PM +$200,000 was $3.3M · Sep 8, 5:00 PM	+$200,000 in about 1 month

Rattlesnake Complex summary

The Rattlesnake Complex is a group of wildfires (a “complex”) near Prairie County, Montana. It has burned about 15,582 acres (about 12,000 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 6 weeks ago. About 60 people are on it, run by a Type 3 Team.

Size: 15,582 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: September 4, 2026 (first reported about 6 weeks ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:00 p.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
This Afternoon	83°F · Sunny Wind 6 mph WNW · 1% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Dry	56°F · Mostly Clear Wind 2 to 6 mph E · 4% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Wednesday	85°F · Sunny Wind 2 to 6 mph SSE · 1% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Dry	60°F · Partly Cloudy Wind 3 to 9 mph E · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Thursday	92°F · Sunny Wind 7 to 13 mph SE · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Hot Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:03 p.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.

1° slope

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

Fallen leaves and needles (TL3)

A moderate layer of pine needles with a few larger sticks and logs mixed in. Fire moves very slowly, with short flames.

45% 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.

2,710 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 4:05 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 60 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 3 Team. About $4 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 Rattlesnake Complex

No other active fires are near this one right now. It's on its own.

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