According to The Great Falls Tribune's meteorologist Mike Richmond, a total of 2,190 square miles burned in Montana in 2017. Richards says last year was the largest fire season in at least 100 years.

Northern Rockies Coordination Center's Predictive Services, the company Richards works for says the state's previous top fire season was 2012, when 1,875 square miles burned.

The Great Fire of 1910 burned an estimated 4,690 square miles in Washington state, northern Idaho, and western Montana. The fires killed over 85 people. 1910 might have had more fire damage than 2017, but no one knows for sure since records aren't available.