Started on Jul 4, 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
Active fires nearby3 · 100 km
Quick facts
- Location
- 1 miles north of Orondo, WA
- Cause
- Human
- People working on it
- 100 people
- Complexity
- Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Short Grass (1 foot)
- How it's behaving
- Minimal, Short-range SpottingSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
- Jurisdiction
- 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.
Over the course of its 12-day progression, the CHELAN HILLS Fire near Orondo, Washington, expanded at an average rate of approximately 822 acres per day, ultimately consuming 9,861 acres of private land. The blaze, which was ignited by human activity on July 4, 2026, has now been fully contained.
With a Type 3 incident management team overseeing the final stages of the response, current fire behavior is limited to minimal smoldering and occasional short-range spotting within the short grass fuel beds. A total of 100 personnel remain on-site to monitor the area, with suppression efforts totaling $4.2 million in costs.
In context
This wildfire burned in Washington for 72 days. In total it burned about 9,861 acres — around 40 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 3,216,670 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
We'll email you if it grows, if it gets more contained, or if it goes out.
At most one alert every 6 hours, and only when something changes.
No account. One-click unsubscribe. · Privacy
Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Be the first to report what is happening →
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
More fires in Washington
- Railroad FireEnded
- Balky Hill FireEnded
- Old Trails FireEnded
- Thunder Creek FireActive
- Electric FireActive
- Little Giant FireActive