States all across our country are currently dealing with intense natural disasters. If you aren’t from around Montana you may be surprised to hear that this summer alone our state has burned over half a million acres. With handfuls of wildfires still burning, here’s the latest information and what you should know about what’s currently happening in the Treasure State.

With over 655,000 acres already burned up in Montana this summer and over 20 fires still currently active, hearts are breaking across our entire state.

Bureau of Land Management/Flickr Between the devastating state that Texas and surrounding areas are in after being hit by Hurricane Harvey and the many wildfires that have been raging along the West Coast, it’s hard to keep up with exactly how much everyone is suffering. Sadly, Montana has now burned over 930 square miles across the state over the last year due to over a thousand fires.

This week the state of Montana’s wildfires worsened as gusty winds increased fire activity and lightning strikes created roughly 40 more fires.

GlacierNPS/Flickr This summer Montana has experienced a severe lack of rainfall when our state could’ve used it the most. Earlier last week more fires were created after major lightning strikes sparked. The fires over this past week have created such intense smoke that planes haven’t even been able to fly over many of them to report their size and other updates.

With so many fires burning in Montana our firefighters are doing all that they can to contain them, with the current fire northeast of Seeley Lake now being the biggest priority fire in the country.

Bureau of Land Management/Flickr Yesterday it was reported that the current fire just outside of Seeley Lake is now the country’s biggest priority when it comes to all of the current fires. The Rice Ridge Fire has now caused over 1,000 evacuations and grew tremendously over this past weekend. On Saturday the Rice Ridge Fire grew to cover another 12,000 acres, now having taken over 55,000 acres of Montana.

Aside from the Rice Ridge Fire that’s now over 42,000 acres in size, other major concerns around Montana include the Lolo Peak Fire, Sapphire Complex Fire and Meyers Fire.

Marc Moss/Flickr If you take a look at just how many fires are burning in Montana and all of the land that they’ve devoured, the numbers are absolutely heartbreaking. Aside from the major disaster that is the Rice Ridge Fire, other fires like the Sapphire Complex Fire and Lolo Peak Fire have taken over 40,000 acres.

This week our hearts also broke even further after learning that the main building of the historic Sperry Chalet was lost during a wildfire on Thursday evening.

GlacierNPS/Flickr While firefighters in the area did everything they could to try and save the Sperry Chalet’s structures, the main building was unfortunately lost on Thursday. The chalet was originally built back in 1913 and is one of Montana’s most favored historic structures. On the National Register of Historic Places, our residents were saddened to hear about the loss of this building.

Have this year’s fires blazing across Montana affected you at all? To view what fires are still currently active and to see their status, stay up to date with the latest reports on InciWeb.

Bureau of Land Management/Flickr

Between the devastating state that Texas and surrounding areas are in after being hit by Hurricane Harvey and the many wildfires that have been raging along the West Coast, it’s hard to keep up with exactly how much everyone is suffering. Sadly, Montana has now burned over 930 square miles across the state over the last year due to over a thousand fires.

GlacierNPS/Flickr

This summer Montana has experienced a severe lack of rainfall when our state could’ve used it the most. Earlier last week more fires were created after major lightning strikes sparked. The fires over this past week have created such intense smoke that planes haven’t even been able to fly over many of them to report their size and other updates.

Yesterday it was reported that the current fire just outside of Seeley Lake is now the country’s biggest priority when it comes to all of the current fires. The Rice Ridge Fire has now caused over 1,000 evacuations and grew tremendously over this past weekend. On Saturday the Rice Ridge Fire grew to cover another 12,000 acres, now having taken over 55,000 acres of Montana.

Marc Moss/Flickr

If you take a look at just how many fires are burning in Montana and all of the land that they’ve devoured, the numbers are absolutely heartbreaking. Aside from the major disaster that is the Rice Ridge Fire, other fires like the Sapphire Complex Fire and Lolo Peak Fire have taken over 40,000 acres.

While firefighters in the area did everything they could to try and save the Sperry Chalet’s structures, the main building was unfortunately lost on Thursday. The chalet was originally built back in 1913 and is one of Montana’s most favored historic structures. On the National Register of Historic Places, our residents were saddened to hear about the loss of this building.

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