Started on Aug 20, 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
- 15 miles west of Homestead, FL
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 11 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
- MinimalFlanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.Running — Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
- Jurisdiction
- NPS · Federal 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 17,000 acres in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the natural-cause Chipmunk Fire was located 15 miles west of Homestead. Over its six-day burning period, the incident expanded at an average daily growth of approximately 2,833 acres per day, eventually reaching 100 percent containment under the management of a Type 4 Incident Command and the National Park Service.
Fire behavior on the federal land featured minimal, flanking, and running activity fueled by 2.5-foot tall grass. Operations to secure the perimeter were supported by a modest team of 11 personnel, resulting in a total cost of $35,000 for the Type 4 incident.
This event unfolds within a broader regional context where the typical fire season spans from June to October. Nationally, 3,068,903 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 44 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Florida for 47 days. So far it has affected roughly 17,000 acres — about 69 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
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 3,323,241 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% 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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