The Skillet fire began near Lincoln, Montana on July 29, 2026, and has burned 2,494 acres with no containment reported as of the latest update. Homes in the affected area face risk of direct fire damage.
Overview written from official NASA EONET and National Interagency Fire Center/IRWIN data.
- Type
- Wildfires
- Official size
- 3,375 acres
- Containment
- 82%
- Cause
- Undetermined
- Began
- Status
- Ongoing
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Affected area map
The shaded area is the affected-area perimeter reported for this event by NASA EONET (Lincoln, Montana), colored by hazard type. Pan and zoom to explore the map; when more than one observation exists, use the slider below to step through how the reported area changed.
Interactive affected-area map
Lincoln, Montana · ≈ 5.3 sq mi reported extent · Enable JavaScript to explore the map.
2026-08-23 22:21 UTC · ≈ 5.3 sq mi · snapshot 21 of 21
View the timeline — how the reported area changed
Official size & containment
Official incident size and containment reported through NIFC / IRWIN, as we observed it. Newest first.
- 3,375 acres ±0 82% contained
- 3,375 acres +6 82% contained
- 3,369 acres ±0 82% contained
- 3,369 acres ±0 82% contained
- 3,369 acres +5 81% contained
- 3,364 acres ±0 82% contained
- 3,364 acres ±0 82% contained
- 3,364 acres ±0 82% contained
Show 20 earlier observations
- 3,364 acres ±0 75% contained
- 3,364 acres ±0 75% contained
- 3,364 acres +7 75% contained
- 3,357 acres ±0 64% contained
- 3,357 acres −6 55% contained
- 3,363 acres −12 47% contained
- 3,375 acres ±0 39% contained
- 3,375 acres +53 39% contained
- 3,322 acres ±0 32% contained
- 3,322 acres +23 32% contained
- 3,299 acres +1 28% contained
- 3,298 acres +71 26% contained
- 3,227 acres ±0 11% contained
- 3,227 acres +138 11% contained
- 3,089 acres ±0 8% contained
- 3,089 acres +100 8% contained
- 2,989 acres +119 6% contained
- 2,870 acres +376 3% contained
- 2,494 acres ±0 0% contained
- 2,494 acres 0% contained
Shown as reported by our sources — not an official product. For current advisories and the authoritative map, see NASA EONET ↗.
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Latest updates
Official updates and news coverage for this event, newest first — National Weather Service products, local storm reports, incident updates and press headlines. Official items are verbatim government text; news headlines link out to the original outlet.
- Incident update InciWeb
Skillet Fire
The Skillet Fire was detected in the Tally Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest, roughly 15 miles from Olney, MT in the Bowen Creek area. The fire was reported in the afternoon of July 29, 2026. The fire is burning in heavy timber and dead and down trees. The fire crossed the Kootenai National Forest boundary on July 30. A local Type 3 fire management organization assumed command of the fire on August 18, 2026.All EVACUATION WARNINGS have been lifted and all areas are now CLEAR.
Updates are captured automatically from official and news sources, and may lag the live source. For the very latest, see NASA EONET ↗.