3 Alpha Sierra Fire, WESTON, Florida (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 3

134Hectares330Acres3Days burning

Containment16%

Started on Sep 27, 2026. 84% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

75Active729Hotspots 48h920 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

3 Alpha Sierra Fire (Florida) — NASA satellite

Yesterday's image: fire shows in orange and red. NASA MODIS

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location: 5 miles west of WESTON, FL
People working on it: 4 people
Complexity: Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Tall Grass (2.5 feet)
How it's behaving: Moderate
Jurisdiction: DVF · State land

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.

Burning across Broward County five miles west of Weston, Florida, the active 3 Alpha Sierra Fire has scorched 330 acres of tall grass standing two and a half feet high since it started on September 27, 2026. Growing at an approximate daily rate of 165 acres, the state-managed incident has reached 16 percent containment after two days of burning.

Satellites have detected two heat signatures nearby over the past 48 hours, reflecting the current spread of the fire while fire behavior remains moderate. Four personnel under a Type 5 Incident management structure and Type 5 IC are assigned to the DVF agency to suppress the flames.

This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,288,995 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 40 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Florida for 2 days. So far it has affected roughly 330 acres — about 1.3 km². Crews have contained 16% of the perimeter, but most of the fire line is still open.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.