Buzzard Fire (CA)
True color
Fire (SWIR)
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire
Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.
Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).
Quick facts
- Location
- 6 Miles NW from LEBEC, CA
- Cause
- Human
- Personnel
- 370
- Complexity
- Type 4 Incident
- Fuel
- Tall Grass (2.5 feet)
- Behavior
- Active, Uphill Runs, Flanking
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Burning through tall grass measuring 2.5 feet in height, the active Buzzard Fire has charred 500 acres in Kern County, California, located six miles northwest of Lebec. Fire behavior is characterized as active with uphill runs and flanking.
Satellites have detected five heat signatures nearby over the past 48 hours, illustrating the local spread of the human-caused fire. A force of 370 personnel is currently deployed to manage the incident, operating under a Type 4 Incident command structure.
Nationwide, 2,603,769 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 52 percent below the two-decade average for a country where the typical fire season spans from June to October.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in California for 1 day. So far it has affected roughly 500 acres — about 2.0 km². Crews report no containment yet, so the fire can still spread.
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 2,603,769 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 52% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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