Started on Jul 16, 2026.
United States todayLive
True view
Fire view
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now
Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.
Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus
Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS
Quick facts
- Location
- 7 miles northeast of CLARNO, OR
- Complex
- Rowe Creek Complex
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 41 people
- Complexity
- Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Short Grass (1 foot)
- How it's behaving
- ActiveTorching — Whole trees flaring up like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Glossary: what each term means
Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.
Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Spreads with low, steady flames.
Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.
Fast and unpredictable.
Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
Grows along the sides, not head-on.
Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.
Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.
Whole trees flaring up like torches.
Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.
Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.
The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.
The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.
Burning across 7,208 acres of private land in Wheeler County, Oregon, the Cove Creek Fire has sustained itself for 25 days with an average daily growth of approximately 288 acres per day since its natural ignition on July 16, 2026. Located seven miles northeast of Clarno near Fossil, the Type 3 incident has exhibited active fire behavior featuring torching within short grass fuels standing one foot tall.
Despite the challenges posed by the active fire behavior, response efforts involving 41 personnel under a Type 3 Incident Command have successfully brought the Cove Creek Fire to 100 percent containment, with total suppression costs reaching $500,000.
This fire occurs against the backdrop of the region's typical fire season, which spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader context reveals that 2,799,726 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 49 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Oregon for 60 days. So far it has affected roughly 7,208 acres — about 29 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.
The bigger picture in United States
Across United States, roughly 3,216,670 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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