FRENCHTOWN — The Alder Fire, burning 7 miles southwest of Frenchtown, Montana, has reached 100% containment, marking the final daily update for the incident.
The fire started July 24, 2026, after a lightning strike ignited the blaze, which grew to 1,235 acres before crews achieved full containment.
Wednesday evening, Northern Rockies Team 1 transferred command to a local Type 3 organization under the direction of Incident Commander Billy Trujillo and Incident Commander Trainee Greg Anderson.
A total of 129 personnel worked the fire, supported by 2 hand crews, 3 engines, 2 helicopters, 1 dozer, 2 water tenders, and 2 skidgens.
Over the coming days, operations will scale down while vital work continues, including patrolling and mopping up hotspots and backhauling suppression-related equipment. As resources time out and incident complexity decreases, the incident will be further downsized. That includes demobilizing heavy equipment, reassigning or returning crews to home units, and dismantling fire camp.
After a brief period of cooler temperatures, warm and dry weather has returned to the region. The higher temperatures increase fire behavior, allowing crews to identify and extinguish sources of residual heat. Crews concentrated their patrol and mop-up efforts on pockets of unburnt fuels deeper within the fire area.
Strong thermal belts are expected to develop over the next 48 hours, leading to very poor relative humidity recovery. Warmer and drier conditions are expected Thursday, with relative humidity values falling into the low teens and light northwesterly winds in the afternoon.
An area, road, and trail closure around the fire remains in effect for public and firefighter safety due to wildfire activity. Specific closure information and maps are available on the Lolo National Forest webpage at www.fs.usda.gov/r01/lolo/alerts.
The Temporary Flight Restriction over the fire area has been rescinded.
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