Little Buck Fire, Fossil, Oregon

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location21 miles west of Fossil, OR

ComplexHay Creek Complex

CauseNatural

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingActive

ComplexityType 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$12.4 million

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

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.

Wind Driven Runs

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.

The story so far

Summary written on Aug 10, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across private lands in Wasco County, Oregon, 21 miles west of Fossil, the active Little Buck Fire has consumed 43,818 acres since it started on July 23, 2026. Over its 18 days of burning, the fire has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 2,434 acres per day, driven by active fire behavior in one-foot short grass fuels. Containment efforts led by a Type 5 Incident Management Team and a Type 5 IC have successfully brought the fire to 89 percent containment, with total suppression costs reaching $12,397,374.98.

This natural-caused blaze unfolds within a broader regional and national context where the typical fire season spans from June to October. Despite active incidents like the Little Buck Fire, national figures show that 2,761,076 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a significant 50 percent decrease below the two-decade average for the country.