Dome Fire, Wawona, California (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 3

476Hectares1,177Acres3Days burning

Containment0%

Started on Sep 15, 2026. 100% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

105Active588Hotspots 48h1.4 MHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Yesterday's image: fire shows in orange and red. NASA MODIS

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location: 1 miles north of Wawona, CA
Complexity: Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Timber (Litter and Understory)
How it's behaving: ActiveFlanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Jurisdiction: NPS · Federal land

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

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.

Wind Driven Runs

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.

Spreading at an average rate of 589 acres per day over the past two days, the active Dome Fire is burning through timber, litter, and understory on federal land managed by the National Park Service in Mariposa County, California. Located one mile north of Wawona, the Type 3 incident has grown to 1,177 acres since it started on September 15, 2026, and currently shows zero containment. Fire behavior is characterized as active, flanking, and backing, with satellites picking up 23 heat detections in the immediate area over the past 48 hours.

The cost to manage the Wawona-area fire has reached $1.5 million under the direction of a Type 3 Incident Commander. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,226,886 hectares burned so far in 2026, a figure that remains 41% below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in California for 2 days. So far it has affected roughly 1,177 acres — about 4.8 km². Crews report no containment yet, so the fire can still spread.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.