Started on Oct 8, 2026. 80% of the perimeter still to contain.
United States todayLive
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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
- 6 miles northeast of Nestoria, MI
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 22 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Hardwood Litter
- How it's behaving
- Active, Short-range SpottingTorching — Whole trees flaring up like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- DNR · 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.
Burning across Baraga County, Michigan, the active Craig Lake 1 Fire is located six miles northeast of Nestoria and has consumed 309 acres of hardwood litter under private land ownership. Sparked by a natural cause on October 8, 2026, the incident has been burning for four days with an approximate average daily growth of 77 acres per day. Fire behavior is currently characterized as active, torching, and producing short-range spotting. Satellites are picking up five heat signatures nearby over the last 48 hours, indicating the extent of the spread.
Operations are supported by 22 personnel managed by the Department of Natural Resources under a Type 4 Incident complexity with a Type 4 IC structure. The current suppression effort has achieved 20 percent containment, with costs reaching $80,000. This fire occurs within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.
On a broader scale, 3,368,499 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 39 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Michigan for 4 days. So far it has affected roughly 309 acres — about 1.3 km². Crews have contained 20% of the perimeter, but most of the fire line is still open.
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 3,368,499 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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