Dome Fire, Wawona, California (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 24

2,758Hectares6,815Acres24Days burning

Containment47%

Started on Sep 15, 2026. 53% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

51Active1,171Hotspots 48h800 kHectares

Last 7 days · falling

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Dome Fire (California) — Sentinel-2 true color

Dome Fire (California) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
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: 1 miles north of Wawona, CA
People working on it: 916 people
Complexity: Type 1 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: MinimalSpotting — 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.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Smoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
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.

Burning in Mariposa County, California, the active Dome Fire sits one mile north of Wawona, having consumed 6,815 acres of federal timber, litter, and understory managed by the NPS since it started on September 15, 2026. Over twenty-three days of burning, the incident has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 296 acres per day. Satellites are picking up a single heat signature over the past 48 hours, while current fire behavior is characterized as minimal, spotting, creeping, and smoldering.

A Complex Incident Management Team is overseeing the Type 1 Incident with 916 personnel assigned to the operation, bringing the total cost to $42,081,285 as crews work to establish containment. As of now, the effort has reached 47 percent containment within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.

This incident unfolds within a broader national landscape where 3,343,020 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 39 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in California for 23 days. So far it has affected roughly 6,815 acres — about 28 km². Crews have contained 47% 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.