Clearwater Fire (Virginia)
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
- 5 Miles NW from Belle Haven, VA
- Personnel
- 6
- Complexity
- Type 4 Incident
- Fuel
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- Behavior
- Minimal
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Burning across private timberland in Accomack County, the Clearwater Fire near Belle Haven, Virginia, has officially reached 100 percent containment after an eight-day run that averaged approximately 45 acres of daily growth. The incident, which started on August 11, 2026, charred a total of 360 acres before fire behavior dropped to minimal levels in the timber litter and understory fuels.
Operations on the Type 4 incident were managed by a Type 4 IC overseeing a lean crew of six personnel, bringing total suppression costs to $14,000.
This Virginia fire unfolds during a broader national season that typically spans from June to October. Across the country, 2,943,064 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 46 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Virginia for 22 days. In total it burned about 360 acres — around 1.5 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 3,186,142 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 42% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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