Started on Aug 10, 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
- 5 miles northeast of Breckenridge, TX
- People working on it
- 19 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 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
- MinimalSpotting — 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.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- SFS · 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 private lands in Stephens County, the active Bufford Creek Fire has scorched 3,240 acres since it started on August 10, 2026. Located five miles northeast of Breckenridge, Texas, the incident has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 1,080 acres per day over its three days of burning, while satellites are picking up a single heat signature nearby over the past 48 hours. Fire activity currently features minimal behavior alongside spotting and isolated torching within 2.5-foot tall grass fuels.
A response team of 54 personnel operating under a Type 4 Incident management and Type 4 IC structure has brought the fire to 95 percent containment with the assistance of the SFS agency. This localized event unfolds against a broader national backdrop where 2,893,377 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 47 percent below the two-decade average for a typical fire season that spans from June to October.
In context
This wildfire burned in Texas for 4 days. In total it burned about 3,240 acres — around 13 km².
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 3,273,976 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 40% 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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