SAM Magazine—Polaris, Mont., Aug. 11, 2026—The Sand Creek Fire hit the summit of Maverick Mountain last night and has reportedly advanced down the small ski area’s terrain, already damaging its only aerial lift—a Riblet double chair—according to a social media post from Maverick on Tuesday morning:

“With heavy hearts, we are sad to say the Sand Creek fire is actively inside the ski area boundary. The Maverick chair has sustained damage, but further details are unknown. We won’t know the extent of the damages until we regain access to the property! 

A big thank you to all the people on the front line and everyone who has helped us this far! Please keep our community in your thoughts.”

The Sand Creek Fire was first reported the afternoon of Aug. 1. It grew rapidly from roughly 1,400 acres on Aug. 5 to nearly 20,000 acres as of Tuesday morning. It’s currently Montana’s largest active wildfire and is zero percent contained, per a Tuesday morning update from Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and incident commander Mike Behrens of the Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 3. 

Maverick Mountain and the surrounding communities were ordered to evacuate Saturday, Aug. 8.

According to Mountain Journal, Maverick Mountain owner Erik Borge knew late last week that a fire was burning about 10 miles away, but it hadn’t done much yet. “Friday night is when things in my world got sideways,” Borge told Mountain Journal. “The sheriff let me know the fire was coming at us, and was expected to hit Maverick the following evening. That’s when everything went off the rails.”

In response, Borge and several employees and community members staged some of the ski areas equipment, such as grooming machines, in its parking lot, away from flammable timber, and removed some items from the lodge. Parts of two refurbished lifts were taken offsite to nearby ranch fields, according to the Mountain Journal report. 

Air tankers had already dropped fire retardant on the base area, including the lodge, over the weekend. Firefighting crews focused on structure protection and constructing handlines in advance of the fire, setting up pump and sprinkler kits around structures. 

The area of the fire is under a Red Flag warning, with pervasive dry conditions including low humidity and northwest winds gusting up to 30 mph. A system with thunderstorms is expected to come through Wednesday. 

Borge purchased Maverick in 2015 with his wife Kristi. He is also co-owner of Elkhorn Hot Springs Resort, located near Maverick and in the path of the Sand Creek Fire.