FEMA disaster declarations in Montana

Is Montana a federal disaster area?

The most recent federal declaration for Montana is FM-5671-MT, a fire management declaration made on 14 Aug 2026 for Sand Creek Fire that began 14 Aug 2026, covering 1 designated area.

FEMA has made 5 disaster declarations in Montana so far in 2026 (4 major disaster, 1 fire management). Over the last 12 months, the median major disaster declaration came 141 days after the incident began and 96.5 days after the request (4 declarations). 2 requests were turned down in 2026.

How to read these tables

• Major disaster (DR) and emergency (EM) declarations are made by the President; fire management (FM) declarations are approved by FEMA.
• Days to declaration counts from the first day of the incident period FEMA recorded to the declaration date. Days from request counts from the date of the governor's or tribal leader's request. Both are calculated here from FEMA's dates.
• Designated areas are the counties, parishes, boroughs, tribal areas and other places FEMA lists for the declaration, including any added later. A designation may cover only some of the programs.
• Programs: IH = Individuals and Households Program, IA = Individual Assistance, PA = Public Assistance, HM = Hazard Mitigation — included in at least one designated area.
• Individual assistance is Yes when the declaration opens the Individuals and Households Program (help people register for) in at least one designated area.
• Apply by (estimate) is FEMA's standard registration period for individual assistance after a major disaster: 60 days from the declaration date (44 CFR 206.112), calculated here. It is an estimate: FEMA often extends deadlines, and DisasterAssistance.gov has the official date. Emergency and fire management declarations have no date here. Open deadlines, soonest first.
• Pending requests are not published in OpenFEMA. Only declarations that were made and requests that were turned down appear, so a request still under review is on neither list.