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
Key facts
Source: NIFCGlossary: 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.
The story so far
The Cherry Plain Fire, which burned in Rensselaer County near Berlin, New York, has ended after scorching 250 acres of state land over two days of activity. Sparked on October 25, 2026, the incident was managed as a Type 4 Incident by the DEC, utilizing a response team of 126 personnel. During its progression, the fire demonstrated moderate behavior with uphill runs, driven primarily by hardwood litter fuels, before ultimately reaching 70 percent containment and conclusion at a total cost of about $20,000.
The blaze unfolded against a broader national backdrop where 3,457,486 hectares had burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure 37 percent below the two-decade average. This late-October event occurred near the tail end of the region's typical fire season, which traditionally runs from June to October.
In context
This wildfire burned in New York for 2 days. In total it burned about 250 acres — around 1.0 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 3,457,486 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 37% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
Alerts near Berlin
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