Benson Fire, Fort McKavett, Texas

True view Fire view

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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

Location10 miles southeast of Fort McKavett, TX

CauseHuman

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.

JurisdictionSFS · Private 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.

The story so far

Having burned for 42 days after sparking on September 12, 2026, the human-caused Benson Fire located 10 miles southeast of Fort McKavett, Texas, in Menard County has now ended. During its active trajectory across private land featuring short grass, the fire expanded at an approximate rate of 33 acres per day, ultimately reaching a total size of 1,395 acres. Fire suppression and management efforts involving 20 personnel from the SFS under a Type 5 Incident classification successfully brought the blaze to 90 percent containment before it concluded.

In the broader national context, the 2026 fire season—which typically runs from June to October—has seen 3,453,410 hectares burn so far, marking a figure that is 37 percent below the two-decade average. Near the conclusion of the Benson Fire, satellite monitoring by NASA FIRMS recorded one heat detection in the surrounding 48-hour period, reflecting the waning activity of the incident as response crews finalized operations in the region.