Dome Fire, Wawona, California — Map & Containment

Dome Fire, Wawona, California — Sentinel-2 true color

Dome Fire, Wawona, 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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location1 mile north of Wawona, CA

What's burningTimber (Litter and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionNPS · Federal land

Cost so far$57.2 million

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.

The story so far

Following a 47-day run that averaged about 144 acres a day, the Dome Fire burning near Wawona, California, in Mariposa County has officially ended. The incident, which began on September 15, 2026, consumed a total of 6,788 acres of timber, litter, and understory on federal land managed by the National Park Service. During its course, the fire behavior was characterized as minimal, smoldering, and creeping.

Operations to suppress the incident involved a Type 3 Incident complexity level supported by 235 personnel. Financial reports show the total cost to address the fire reached about $57.2 million, specifically 57,247,141 USD. The effort ultimately achieved 100 percent containment before the fire concluded.

The broader fire context for 2026 shows that 3,478,083 hectares have burned so far this year across the country, running 37 percent below the two-decade average. This activity occurred within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.