09/02/2026
When smoke fills the sky, finding a new wildfire start can be a challenge. On July 27, that challenge was made even more difficult as fires popped up across Montana and thick smoke reduced visibility across the region; however, technology provided an important clue.
While monitoring heat signatures through the Wildfire Enterprise Geospatial Portal (EGP), Steven Paul, DNRC program specialist for incident awareness and assessment planning, noticed several heat signatures just a few miles from an existing fire in Fergus County. He alerted Jocee Hedrick, the Northeast Land Office (NELO) duty officer, who quickly sent NELO assistant fire management officer Dustin Lenz to check the area.
Dustin was already nearby checking on the existing fire, which meant he could quickly investigate the new heat signatures. What he found was a fire burning in a coulee that had already reached about 20 acres but had not yet been reported by the public, later named the 72 Bench Fire.
As ground resources worked to contain the fire, 8AJ, a type 1 helicopter, provided critical aerial support, making several bucket drops to stall the fire’s forward progress. The helicopter supported ground crews and helped give firefighters an opportunity to gain control of the incident.
In conditions where smoke made it difficult to see the fire from the ground, the heat signatures and early detection helped DNRC and county resources respond quickly and contain the fire to less than 50 acres in an area where fires have been known to grow to 10,000 acres in a single day.
Wildfire response is about more than what happens once a fire is reported. It is also about having the technology, people, and partnerships in place to find fires early, verify what is happening on the ground, and get resources moving quickly.
📸 Aerial photo courtesy of Randy Okon, DNRC lead air tactical group supervisor, onboard a State Air Attack aircraft. Forest photo courtesy of Clint Mrnak, seasonal emergency firefighter (EFF) at NELO.
