State launches online dashboard for Montana wildfires

A new online dashboard contains detailed information about wildfires burning across Montana.

Gov. Greg Gianforte's office unveiled the feature at mtfireinfo.org on Monday after 13 new fires started in 24 hours. The state has experienced nearly 1,800 fire starts this year, and 88 were still burning on Monday. The number of acres burned has nearly doubled — to more than 468,000 — in the past week alone.

"Ensuring Montanans receive accurate and timely information regarding these fires is more important than ever," Gianforte said in a statement. "I'm urging all Montanans to do their part to reduce wildfire risk by following local fire restrictions, preparing their homes and communities for wildfire, and recreating and working safely while outdoors."

The new dashboard is similar to a federal wildfire information site known as InciWeb. It includes information on all active wildfires in Montana, as well as more detailed information on fires larger than 100 acres, including their size, cause and level of containment. The dashboard also includes the total number of fires and acres burned in Montana this calendar year.

Gianforte's office said dashboard data "will be updated routinely throughout the day as soon as incident information is updated."